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A LITERARY GUIDE 
TO THE BIBLE 

LAURA H. WILD, B.D. 



A LITERARY GUIDE 
TO THE BIBLE 

A Study of the Types of Literature Present in 
The Old and New Testaments 



BY 

LAURA H. WILD, B.D. 

PROFESSOR OF BIBLICAL HISTORY AND LITERATURE 
MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE 




NEW xar YORK 
GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY 






COPYRIGHT, 1922, 
BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY 



A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE. II 



PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 



OCT 12 '22 

©C1A683684 

^0 i 



TO MY STUDENTS 

THROUGHOUT THE YEARS 
WHO HAVE BEEN AN INSPIRATION TO 
MY OWN STUDY 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

Acknowledgment is made for permission from the pub- 
lishers to use extracts from the following books : 

American S. S. Union 

Barton, G. A. — Archaeology and the Bible — 1916 

The Page Company 
Count Tolstoi — Fables for Children ; Stories for Chil- 
dren; and Moral Tales — 1904 

Dodd, Mead and Company 
Bay Psalm Book— 1903 

Cheyne, T. K. — Translation of Isaiah (polychrome 
Bible)— 1898 

George H. Dor an Company 
Smith, George Adam — ^Jerusalem — 1907 

—The Book of Isaiah— 1896 
Gordon, Alexander R. — The Poets of the Old Testa- 
ment— 1912 
McLaren, Alexander, D.D. — Psalms — 1901 
Moffatt, Rev. Prof. James — A New Translation of 
the New Testament — 1913 

Ginn and Company 
Genung, J. F. — A Guidebook to the Biblical Literature 
—1919 

Houghton, Mifflin Company 

Gilder, R. W. — Complete Poems — 1908 

Little Brown and Company 

CuRTiN, Jeremiah — Creation Myths of Primitive 
America — 1911 

vil 



ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

The Macmillan Ccmipany 
Brown, T. E.— Poems— 1920 
CoLUM, P.— The Children of Odin— 1920 
DuHM, Bernhard — The Twelve Prophets — 1912 
Fowler, H. T. — ^A History of the Literature of Ancient 

Israel— 1912 
Frazer, J. G.— Folk-lore in the Old Testament— 1918 
Johnson, Clifton — Old Time Schools and School 

Books— 1904 
King, H. C— Ethics of Jesus— 1910 
Masefield, John — Collected Poems — 1918 
Wilkinson, Margaret — New Voices — 1919 

Marshall Jones Company 
Mythology of All Races 
Dixon, R. B. — Oceanic Mythology — 1916 
MuLLER, W. M. — Egyptian Mythology — 1918 

Thomas Nelson and Sons 
American Revised Version of the Holy Bible — 1901 

Oxford University Press 
Oxford Book of Latin Verse— 1912 
Smith, G. A. — Early Poetry of Israel in Its Physical 
and Social Origins — 1912 

Pilgrim Press 

McFadyen, J. E. — Isaiah in Modern Speech — 1918 

G, P. Putnam's Sons 
Cobb, W. F.— The Book of Psalms— 1905 
Davis, C H. S.— Egyptian Book of the Dead— 1894 
Kalila and Dimna : or The Fables of Bidpai — translated 

from Arabic by Wyndham KnatchbuU — 1905 
King, E. G. — Early Religious Poetry of the Hebrews — 

1911 
Smith, G. A. — Deuteronomy (Cambridge Bible) — 1918 

Riving ton 

BuRNEY, C. F.— The Book of Judges— 1918 
Scott Foresman and Company 

Anderson, R. B. — Norse Mythology — 1901 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix 

Charles Scribner^s Sons 
Briggs, C. a. & E. G. — Psalms (Inter. Crit. Com.) — 

1906 
Charles, R. H. — Revelation (Inter. Crit. Com.) — 1920 
Driver, S. R. — Deuteronomy (Inter. Crit. Com.) — 1895 
Gray, G. B. — Isaiah (Inter. Crit. Com.) — 1912 
Kent, C. F.— Students' Old Testament— 1914 
Skinner, J. — Genesis (Inter. Crit. Com.) — 1910 
Toy, C. H.— Proverbs (Inter. Crit. Com.)— 1904 

Steckert and Company 

Teubner, B. G. — Bibliotheca Scriptorum Graecorum et 

Romanorum Teubneriana, University of Chicago 

Press 
Houghton, L. S. — Hebrew Life and Thought — 1906 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGB 

I INTRODUCTION. THE BIBLE AS LIT- 
ERATURE ....... 15 

II FOLK-LORE . 19 

SECTION i: INTRODUCTORY. FOLK-LORE IN 

THE BIBLE 19 

SECTION II : CHARACTERISTICS OF FOLK- 
LORE 20 

SECTION IIi: FOLK-SONGS. EXAMPLES . 34 
SECTION IV : BIBLICAL RIDDLES ... 56 
SECTION V: MYTH AND LEGEND . . 62 
SECTION VI : MYTH AND LEGEND. EXAM- 
PLES . , 65 

III STORY TELLING 88 

SECTION I : THE ART OF STORY TELLING . 88 
SECTION II : SHORT STORIES. EXAMPLES . 94 
SECTION III: LONGER STORIES ... 97 
SECTION IV : FABLES, PARABLES, ALLEGO- 
RIES, AND PROVERBS 99 

SECTION V : FABLES, PARABLES, ALLEGORIES, 

AND PROVERBS. EXAMPLES . . . 103 

IV HISTORY .109 

SECTION I : THE CHARACTER OF HISTORICAL 

WRITING 109 

SECTION II : EXAMPLES . . . .116 

(1) Descriptive History , . , .116 

(2) Didactic History 117 

(3) Genetic History 118 

xi 



Xll 
CHAPTER 



CONTENTS 



HEBREW POETRY . . 

SECTION I : INTRODUCTORY 



THE STRUCTURE OF HEBREW 



SECTION II 

POETRY 
SECTION III: EXAMPLES 
(1) Patriotic Poetry . 

Early Patriotic Songs; Later Patriotic 
Songs and Prayers of the People 
Songs of the Royalty; Dirges, Early 
and Late. 



VI 



VII 



(2) Nature Lyrics , 

(3) Praise Lyrics 

(4) Other Choice Lyrics ^ 

DRAMATIC LITERATURE . 

(1) Dramatic Lyrics . 

(2) Dramatic Visions 

(3) Dramatic Prophecy 

WISDOM LITERATURE 

(1) The Book of Job 

(2) The Words of Koheleth 

(3) Groups of Proverbs 



VIII ORATORY 

EXAMPLES OF BIBLICAL SPEECHES 
ESTIMATES OF BIBLICAL SPEECHES 
SPEECHES WITH WHICH TO COMPARE 
BIBLICAL MATERIAL ... 



IX ESSAY . 

EXAMPLES 
ESTIMATES 



BIBLICAL REFERENCES 
INDEX 



THIS 



A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 



A LITERARY GUIDE 
TO THE BIBLE 

Chapter I 
INTRODUCTION. THE BIBLE AS LITERATURE 

What excuse is there for another text-book upon the 
Bible and upon the Bible as literature? Have we not been 
studying the literature of the Bible during all these cen- 
turies and, moreover, if we study it simply as literature 
are we not missing its greatest mission as a book of re- 
ligion ? 

This book proposes definite answers to these questions and 
the reader and student is invited to consider these answers 
carefully, not superficially with the assumption that of 
course we appreciate the literature when we study it as 
history or when we study it for its religious lessons, nor on 
the other hand with the assumption that when we consider 
especially the beauty and art of expression we are leading 
the student away from the essential meaning intended to be 
conveyed. There are advocates of "devotional" Bible study 
who look askance at the literary study as if one were 
hindered from realizing the sweet fragrance of a rose by 
admiring the beauty of its structure and the exquisite tints 
of its petals; likewise there are those who brush aside the 
importance of an appreciation of the unique art of a race 
for what they consider the more essential foundations of 
its history, as if in the total impress of personality upon 
personality, of race upon race, of God upon man, the skele- 
ton were more important than the features, the history of 
the evolution of the eye than its engaging fascination in 
sparkle and humor, in tears and pathos. 

15 



16 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

Now without any question spiritual realities count most, 
but it is also unquestionably true that the way human beings 
awake to spiritual realities, to the clarifying visions which 
may be seen by each one of us as well as by the first seers, 
is through the fascination of something attractive, through 
the manner of expression of eye, of hand, of thought, which 
is the revelation of unsounded depths beneath. The great 
personalities of the world have something characteristic, 
fascinating, and alluring about their expression. Il partakes 
of the mysterious because it is always leading us farther in 
and showing us deeper places and broader expanses without 
exhausting the full reservoir of life. This is equally true of 
the great races which have impressed the world with some- 
thing unique and characteristic. Great world masterpieces 
are simply the expression of such individual or racial genius. 
The reservoir must be deep to attract and hold the world by 
the movement upon the waters ; but that movement, that ex- 
pression, attracts attention and promises a great reward of 
investigation. If it cannot keep its hold after the first 
fascination is over, then it must be taken for what it is 
worth, a mere surface attraction, an expression that is 
merely temporary, not immortal; for great thought demands 
great art. Moreover, the converse is likewise true ; where 
great art is found, great revelations may be expected. It 
is a false conception that an appreciation of art and beauty 
detracts from the realization of the fundamental revelation ; 
on the contrary it is the open door to such revelation. 
Moreover, the revelation itself cannot be fully appreciated 
apart from its beautiful expression. Possibly this fact, that 
the expressions of the Bible are the avenues to great revela- 
tions of truth, is more of a proof for the inspiration of 
Scripture than any dogmatic argument has ever been. Pos- 
sibly here is to be found for our present day the more 
natural approach to a belief in the inspired word of God. 
We are not, therefore, missing the religious import of the 
Bible by studying its literary expression. On the contrary 
we are opening our eyes to perceive more truly its real 
significance. 



INTRODUCTION 17 

Granting the value then of an appreciation of the literary 
art of the Bible, is there still an excuse for a text-book 
upon the Bible as literature? Do we not spoil its beauty 
and its effect by analysis? The truth is that as our Bible 
has come down to us through the medium of manuscripts 
and translations often poor and very much defaced and ob- 
scured, the original freshness, vigor, and spontaneity has 
been so incrusted that modern scholarship has done a very 
great service in trying to get back to the first form of ex- 
pression. Results are now available for scholars, and there 
are many books already at hand for the beginner in the 
study of the English Bible which help materially in getting 
hold of the history of the Hebrew race, and of their ideas. 
But there are very few books which treat primarily of the 
appreciation of the literature as literature. Even those 
which adopt the title of literature prove upon examination 
to be studies of the history of the literature rather than of 
the appreciation of literary types. There is a need just 
now for a text-book for the beginner in the study of the 
English Bible which will help him so to realize the art and 
beauty of Biblical literature that he can read it along with 
other world masterpieces and understand its excellencies 
clearly and intelligently. For with all our pride of culture 
and education it is a fact that the Bible is losing its place 
as a classic to be read and understood. It is being regarded 
by the ordinary young person as the fetich of certain sects, 
carried under the arm to Sunday School or Church as a 
religious protection from harm, but as nothing real in every- 
day life. The present-day youth is so woefully ignorant of 
the names, phrases, and incidents in the Bible that the 
meaning of references to them in English literature is quite 
hidden. If the Bible is ever to take its place as one of the 
great masterpieces in the world of literature it must be 
studied in such a way that the high school or college teacher 
can use it side by side with other literatures, assuming a 
knowledge of its points of excellence, its art and beauty, 
compared with other masterpieces. 

As we have already seen, there are many kinds of Bible 



18 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

study. It may be studied as history; as a religious guide 
pure and simple or theologically; it may be studied to dis- 
cover the sociological truths which come to light in viewing 
the different stages of society through which the Hebrews 
passed ; and it may be studied as literature, to discover the 
art and beauty of expression which was the medium through 
which the great ideas, the spiritual revelations, of a very 
unique and gifted race found their way into the world. The 
last mentioned involves a certain historical background but 
it is different from a survey of the history of the literature. 
That traces the development of a literature, studies the in- 
fluences which brought about such a development and the 
kind of men and women who produced it; the thorough 
study of the history of any literature would include a famili- 
arity with what was written and an appreciation of it. But 
historical surveys very often stop short of that; a study 
of the preexilic, exilic, and post-exilic periods of Hebrew 
history often stops short of an appreciation of Isaiah's 
Vineyard Song or the Thunder-storm Psalm, and a knowl- 
edge of the importance of the patriarchal period in Hebrew 
racial development sometimes leaves the student completely 
unaware of Hebrew folk-poetry, that there was indeed a 
"Song of the Sword" or a "Song of the Well." 

Now in order to begin to understand any literature from 
this last standpoint one must take a type such as folk-lore, 
story, or poetry and stay with it long enough to put one- 
self as nearly as possible into the feelings and state of 
mind of that group of authors. One must single out certain 
illustrations and study them so carefully that their delicate 
shades of beauty and forceful devices for conveying mean- 
ing shall not escape one. One should also compare these 
illustrations with masterpieces of the same type In other 
literatures in order to realize the peculiar power of a racial 
genius. 

To furnish a guide for such a study of the Bible in a 
brief and simple way is the attempt of this book. 



Chapter II 
FOLK-LORE 

SECTION I : INTRODUCTORY — FOLK-LORE IN THE BIBLE 

To those who have been accustomed to view the Bible 
simply as a book of rehgion it is sometimes a surprise to 
realize that we have imbedded in these records the remains 
of a very early literary expression which was no more re- 
ligious than any songs sung by any primitive people ex- 
pressing the mere joy of living or the thrill of discovering 
something new or exultation over a victory in battle. It 
was all religious in the sense that primitive people lived 
intimately with their gods and did not self-consciously 
analyze their thoughts and feelings and then wrap up a 
certain section of them and label them religious. So with 
the Hebrews, their God had something to do with all they 
did, with the sunshine and the crops, with the thunder- 
storm and the earthquake, with a cloudburst when it helped 
them to gain a victory over their enemy, and with the gift 
of a well of water in a parched and weary land. 

To the student who is accustomed to view the Bible as 
a collection of documents recording the development of a 
race and their growth in religious consciousness and ideals 
from very primitive beginnings to a very lofty climax, it is 
a great joy to discover that the art and beauty, the spon- 
taneity and playfulness found in the literatures of other 
peoples is not lacking here. The Bible is not a book of re- 
ligious homilies and moral precepts only. It is alive and 
sparkling ; it is free and untrammded ; one feels its vitality 
and spring so that even though born in this sophisticated, 
self-conscious age one can imagine himself back in that 
youthful time, dancing with the children, singing in the 
vineyard, or piping to the flocks. Let the reader compare, 

19 



20 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

for example, our Scriptures with the Mohammedan Bible, 
the Koran, and he soon exclaims that there is no compari- 
son. The intellectually curious, the student of theology and 
ethics, may enjoy the Koran, but think of the way little 
children, and restless, adventurous boys, and courageous 
youths, as well as mature men and women have been held by 
the charm and spirit of the Bible stories and poetry. 

In the early literature of every nation are found harvest 
songs, hunting songs, and battle songs. The poetic instinct 
seems born in men, the love of music, the sense of rhythm. 
They could do everything better to the rhythm of song, 
their daily work, and their fighting, as well as their play. 
To its accompaniment they marched in better step, swung 
their sickles with more spirit, and trod the grapes in the 
winepress more joyously. The Old Testament offers no 
exception to this universal tendency in literature. Here 
we find labor songs, dirges, wedding songs, and marching 
songs which make it clear that Hebrew literature, like 
every other great literature, was born from a feeling for 
the rhythms of life. Human beings are built upon the 
rhythmic plan and the moment a literature loses that hold 
and drops into a purely prosaic style, that moment its great- 
ness is gone, for it has ceased to be true to life. Hebrew 
literature is great literature and one of its most marked 
characteristics is its rhythmical beauty. As our older ver- 
sions of the Bible are printed, it is often difficult to per- 
ceive the poetic form ; but the more recent scholars are 
translating the text with greater accuracy and more sym- 
pathetic understanding of the original meaning, and print- 
ing as poetry the fragments of folk-songs as well as longer 
poems. 

SECTION II : CHARACTERISTICS OF FOLK-LORE 

If we are to recognize true folk-lore in Biblical literature 
we must first understand the marks of folk-lore in any 
literature. These we can know, for through close attention 
to a comparative study of all races and languages available 



FOLK-LORE 21 

scholars have recognized at least a dozen characteristics of 
this first kind of literary expression. 

Although folk-lore is primitive in the sense of being first 
in the development of any tribal or racial expressions, it is 
not all ancient, for there still exist primitive tribes hardly 
developed beyond the first stages among which folk-lore can 
be observed to-day in its active, living expression ; the songs 
can be heard, the accompanying dances can be watched, the 
stories can be traced back as far as possible to their origin. 
In our own country we have had two races that have 
yielded us very interesting material, the Negroes and the 
Indians. Much of the primitive expression of feeling 
brought over from Africa by the slaves was incorporated 
into the negro songs of slave days, and many fascinating, 
imaginative tales of the ancestors of our Indians have been 
preserved in such a collection as that of the California tribes 
by Jeremiah Curtin. Yet it must be noted that within the 
memory of people now living negroes have ceased to put 
into their folk-songs the same spirit, the same tragic pathos 
of tone, the same rhythms, even, which they gave voice to in 
slave days. The present generation, living under different 
conditions, is more sophisticated, has a different spirit ; imi- 
tation can never produce the identical expression of the 
original. And this is quite apparent also among the In- 
dians. One must hark back to the impressions gained by 
our first settlers from tribes and chiefs unspoiled by contact 
with civilization to get the right idea of the inherent no- 
bility, originality, and genius of the native Indian, which 
civilization has diluted and submerged. To get back to the 
original as far as possible, to seek out the remote corners 
of the country, in the case of both Indians and Negroes, in 
order to find groups which still express the feelings of their 
ancestors, not from memory but as a part of their own 
life, this is the work of scholars through which they have 
discovered in the making the characteristics of the most 
primitive literature. 

Now if we see the difficulty in such a restoration of folk- 
lore when we are so near to the living expression of it as 



22 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

in the case of these two peoples mentioned, how much 
greater is the task when ancient history is involved, when 
the remnants of such traditions have come down to us only 
in ancient records which have suffered terribly at the hands 
of copyists and translators, when even the principles upon 
which a very ancient national poetry was built were dis- 
covered comparatively recently, and when that poetry was 
for long translated as prose into the foreign English tongue. 
Some people look up with surprise when they are told that 
there is folk-lore in the Bible. If so, why have we not 
known it long ago, for has not the Bible been pored over 
more than any other printed book? The answer is quite 
evident; although we owe very much to scholarship past 
and present, the Bible is a mine with rich veins scarcely 
tapped even though it has been a sacred book for centuries. 
There is no better exercise for our imagination than to 
attempt to put ourselves back some thousands of years in 
time and feel primitive feelings with an ancient race, and we 
find as we do it and as we compare those expressions in 
folk-song and story with the folk-lore of more modern 
tribes that there is a common element running through it 
all, that human nature in its development and its essential 
expressions has not changed very much after all. 

Let us see, then, what these, common characteristics are 
which unmistakably reveal a body of folk-poetry and legend, 
even though imbedded in a mass of more recent literature. 

1, Folk-lore is spontaneous. There is none of the con- 
scious art of the schools about it. For this very reason it 
is a true revelation of the fundamental characteristics of 
human nature. In this connection we note with interest 
that there is "more of the spontaneity of childhood in our 
Bible stories than in the folk-lore of any other people."^ 
This naivete involves sympathy and faith. More highly 
trained people stop to analyze a situation or to "size-up" 
a person before yielding to the impulse of sympathy or 
granting full faith. But primitive people do not know how 
to analyze. They simply observe and feel and then they 

1 Houghton, Louise Seymour, Hebrew Life and Thought. 



FOLK-LORE 23 

describe. Neither do they beat about the bush in their de- 
scriptions in order to save the feeUngs of some one else. 
They are very direct and pointed in the words they use, 
quite savage at times. With a perfectly natural exuberance 
of feeling they express their delight at a new discovery, giv- 
ing vent to their anger at some obstacle in their way with 
the same vehemence. They are untamed. 

2. Not having learned restraint, early peoples could not 
therefore learn the art of teaching or restraining others. 
Consequently the second characteristic of folk-lore is its 
lack of the didactic or moralizing element. Folk-lore shows 
no desire to point out motives or to teach others how to 
appreciate the facts revealed. Although observations are 
made and discoveries recorded, although lessons may even 
be apparent under the guise of story, events, not the inter- 
pretation of events, stand as the main thing. The one who 
listens to the song may take it or leave it, that matters not 
to the singer, for he treats the world as the world treats 
him : the world is here, that is all, and the singers are simply 
voicing their delight in being a part of it. Like the birds 
of the air, they must sing because it is their nature, not 
because they have a mission to help poor souls to regard 
the world in a different light. Neither are these singers as 
yet charmed with the art of charming. They probably do 
not know that they are charming. They are not trying to 
do anything, they are simply living. The consciousness of 
fascination about them and the attempt to imitate this fas- 
cination and to teach others to do so comes much later when 
art for art's sake and poetry for poetry's sake emerge in 
order to reproduce a charm sophisticated nature is in danger 
of losing. These primitive singers are quite artless. 

3. There is always rhythm in folk-lore. Primitive people 
are always singers. It is simply the expression of the 
rhythm in life. Singing may be an art when civilization 
overtakes us, but In the beginning It is the natural out- 
burst of this fundamental fact of all nature, that it 
is rh)^hmical. Literary expression was first of all merely 
the attempt of the awakening soul to bear witness to this 



24 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

fact. A feeling for the rhythms of life is an especial 
characteristic of Hebrew literature throughout all its 
periods even down to the more artificial stages. It is 
really a part of the Hebrew genius, for everywhere is 
found, in prose as well as in poetry, a certain balance of 
thought and very decided balances of feeling; pathos gives 
vividness to joy, heavy-heartedness to light-heartedness, 
struggle to peace. 

4. A fourth characteristic of folk-lore is the fact that it 
is a communal affair, a group expression. The entire body 
of the people is swayed by common feelings and gives voice 
as a whole to those feelings. Folk-lore is "of the people" 
but not "for the people," because as has been said already, 
there is not the least attempt to teach or to convert. Be- 
cause it is thus a communal thing no one knows or prob- 
ably ever did know the authorship of any particular song. 
It belongs to the public and is truly a public production.^ 
In our day and generation we must remember if we are to 
appreciate that early time, that individualism did not then 
exist. The tribe was the unit of life, thought, action, and 
feeling; it moved as one; if there should be any one who 
was too individualistic to belong to that unit, swift death 
was meted out, as witness the punishment that befell Achan 
according to the account that comes down to us in the book 
of Joshua. The "Song of the Sword" illustrates well the 
communal origin of a folk-song. The tribe discovered the 
value of cutting instruments; the tribe broke out, there- 
fore, with a jubilant exultation over the discovery. To-day 
the same wave of group discovery appears when different 
inventors stumble upon the same thing simultaneously. And 
the impulse to a common expression of delight appears in 
the common thread to be found in the poetry of any par- 
ticular period. But in primitive times all the conditions 
were against even temporary individual claims to owner- 
ship of ideas or expressions, even though an individual may 
have been responsible for the initial impulse. 

2 This opinion is the one most students of folk-lore maintain. For the 
opposite view that folk-lore is the product of the imagination of certain indi- 
riduals, see Louise Pound, Poetic Origins and the Ballad. 



FOLK-LORE 25 

5. A fifth mark of this early type of literature is that it 
was doubtless orally transmitted. Long before literary men 
existed in the sense of adepts at writing, literature was in 
the making. We ought to have a word that would cover 
all verbal expressions, written or spoken, for the word lit- 
erature connotes the knowledge of letters and reproduces at 
once in our minds the image of books. "Spoken EngHsh" 
is being revived in our schools simply for the reason that 
spontaneity and fire of expression is in danger of being al- 
together lost in our bookishness. Yet "Spoken English" is 
only the art of reproducing effectively what has been written 
and does not cover at all what we mean by that original 
act of composition apart entirely from pen and paper, and 
the sight of the words. It was sound which was the guide 
in those early days, not sight ; hence the music and rhythm. 
The ear was the organ brought into requisition first as prime 
director of the art. However the eye, too, served well as 
a handmaid, as is evident in our next point. 

6. The dayice almost always accompanies folk-song. This 
brings out the rhythm, while the refrain, which we shall 
see was almost always present, lends itself to the dance. 
Here is where the eye comes in as a most useful comple- 
ment to the ear. Yet the rhythm of the dance depends pri^ 
marily upon motion; blind people can dance because they 
feel the rhythm rather than see it and the era of folk- 
poetry has had many a blind bard. The sight of a folk- 
dance is a charming thing especially to the observer who 
is not in the motion but outside it looking on, yet the ob- 
server is likewise having his own sense of rhythm stimu- 
lated through his ear and his imagination. However, we 
must remember that in the days of real folk-song all the 
people took part, joining in together, except the old or the 
sick; it was a communal affair, a living thing indeed. As 
we look back upon it now from a distance we catch it in 
the making, not in a hermit's cell or a writer's retreat but 
with a crowd of singers and dancers. "Folk-song is song 
alive." 

7. Without doubt folk-lore was also a growth, that is, 



26 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

when the first rendition of a song or stanza was heard, 
something was added. Soon another couplet or another 
stanza attached itself to the first. We sometimes imitate 
this folk-song process when in our games a group is given 
the task of making up a poem in a few minutes. Some 
bright mind starts off and soon line after line is added. 
Probably it is not very good poetry and it is always done 
with a humorous sense of the impossibility of compressing 
into a brief moment a process that naturally takes time and 
thought. But after all it is a revival of an ancient, primi- 
tive group instinct in the making of song. The complete 
folk-song is not to our mind always logically complete, that 
is, perfect as the schools would have made it. There are 
likely to be many omissions and there is often a sudden leap 
in thought and change in style as from narrative to dia- 
logue, the same kind of a leap which one finds that intuitive 
rather than logical people always make. The process of 
development of folk-lore may even show, after a while, a 
point where individual expression comes in, where the form 
may well be attributed to a single author. Yet that author 
undoubtedly draws upon the common fund of material in 
much the same manner as the group did before him. He 
is still unconscious of his art. He may be a bard but he 
is of the people and not very different from all the rest. 

8. Folk-poetry is objective, not subjective. It is not re- 
flective, neither is it sentimental although full of sentiment. 
This is quite in accord with what has been said before, that 
primitive people simply observe and do not teach, that they 
do not analyze, and that their feelings are perfectly natural 
and wholesome with no morbid distortions and suppressions, 
which turn true sentiment into a sickly sentimentality. They 
express their feelings freely and frankly, but they do not 
discuss them ; the feelings themselves never become a matter 
of interest and speculation. Thus their language remains 
concrete while they leave to later times the invention of 
those abstract terms that separate the heart from the ob- 
jects of its affection and turn them into objects of mental 
apprehension only. 



FOLK-LORE 27 

9. The faculties brought especially into play in folk-lore 
are memory and imagination. The use of memory is shown 
in the fact that recitative is one of the forms of early folk- 
lore. Unquestionably this tends to keep past events in mind ; 
that is, it is an aid to memory, doubtless unconsciously 
adopted. We have an example of this in the snatch of a 
folk-song given in Numbers 21 : 14, 15, regarding which 
Mrs. Houghton makes the following comment. "It would 
seem probable that the entire story of the wilderness jour- 
ney and the conquest of the district east of the Jordan was 
preserved in a series of ballads of this sort, perhaps for the 
same reason that the list of the kings of England has been 
cast into doggerel verse in 'Columbus was a sailor brave'." 

Let us compare this device for remembering the tribal 
history of the Hebrews with our own device in English and 
we shall see the common element. 

Waheb in Suphah [we passedl 

And the valleys of Arnon 

And the cliffs of the valleys 

That descend to the dwellings of Ar, 

And lean on the shoulder of Moab.* 

Compare 

The Story of America in Verse 
By Peter Parley 

Columbus was a sailor brave, 

The first that crossed th' Atlantic wave, 

In fourteen hundred and ninety-two, 

He came far o'er the ocean blue. 

Where ne'er a ship had sailed before, 

And found a wild and savage shore 

Where naked men in forests prowled 

And bears and panthers roamed and howled.* 

The great difference in these recitatives which strikes us 
first is that the English verse seems more rhythmical. This 
is the result of two facts which we shall understand better 

3 See translation in Houghton, Louise S., Hebrew Life and Thought. 

4 For two more verses of this quaint poem see Clifton Johnson, Old Time 
Schools and School-hooks, p. 252. 



28 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

when we come to study Hebrew poetry more in detail. The 
first is that there is in Hebrew poetry hardly any dependence 
upon rhyme to produce musical effects and that the meter 
is the meter of accent rather than of number of syllables. 
The second reason is the very imperfect rendering of the 
music of the individual Hebrew words in a translation. 

Now not only was recitative a means that early people 
used for remembering past events, but there was often a 
device within the song itself to help the memory. This was 
repetition and repetition in two forms. The first of these 
is the refrain, in which Biblical poetry abounds, one of the 
chief devices discovered by primitive people to help the 
memory as well as to aid in the rhythmical effect. Deb- 
orah's Song in Judges 5:2,9, a very ancient war ballad, 
gives us a good example of this. Psalm 8: 1,9 shows ex- 
cellently how a later poet built his exquisite nature poem 
upon this early form. The second way in which repetition 
very frequently occurs is in the use over and over again 
of the same word, but so skillfully and rhythmically as to 
avoid monotony. Here is found one of the differences be- 
tween early and late Hebrew poetry. In some of the late 
liturgical psalms, constructed quite artificially, the repetition 
of lines and words becomes exceedingly monotonous, as in 
Psalm 136, for example. Compare with this the effective 
repetition of words in Judges 5: 12 and I Samuel 2:1, or 
in the mourning song of David over Absalom in II Sam- 
uell8:33 

O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom ! 
Would I had died for thee, 
O Absalom, my son, my son ! 

or in that imitation of a dirge found in the prophecy of 
Amos, where the word in the Hebrew, hd, ho, is translated 
Alas! Alas! in Enghsh. The Hebrew, as is readily seen, 
lends itself to a wail made much more effective by repe- 
tition. 

Now with due apology to the dignity of style and. sacred- 
ness of association of the Bible text, let us compare this 



FOLK-LORE 29 

Hebrew device of repetition with the English as shown 
in many of the Mother Goose rhymes. Take for example 
"Titty Mouse and Tatty Mouse." Here is brought out pre- 
cisely what occurred in the Hebrew folk-poetry, a repetition 
of the same words at regular intervals, sometimes every two 
lines, sometimes three, and sometimes seven. The charm for 
children of the nursery tale of "Goldilocks and the Three 
Bears" depends upon this very repetition. The same is true 
of Negro "Spirituals" such as the "Chariot Song" or 
"Where, Now Where, Are the Hebrew Children?" 

Another very apparent delight of the Hebrew was in a 
play on words by repetition. Samson's rhyming riddle illus- 
trates well this point. 

With the jawbone of an ass 
Have I massed a mass ; 
With the jawbone of an ass 
Have I slain a thousand.^ 

If we compare with this our foolish yet amusing Mother 
Goose story of "Chicken-licken," the reason for the amuse- 
ment of the Hebrews at many of their verses will be readily 
seen. 

One lurther remark should be made in this connection. 
As has already been said in dealing with the growth of a 
folk-song, in the improvisation of a song perhaps one mem- 
ber of a crowd suggested one line and another the next. 
Often the recurrent phrases were well-known lines which 
had already become common property. This introduction 
of familiar material is found in later writings in the quo- 
tation of proverbs or bits of wisdom in verse form. The 
prophet Isaiah seems fond of this way of approaching his 
audiences at the point of contact. For example, remini- 
scences, perhaps even refrains, of ancient folk-song are 
present in Isaiah 28 : 20 

For the bed Is shorter than a man can stretch himself on it: 
And the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it. 

5 This will be studied more in detail later under Riddles. 



so A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

and in Isaiah 2:4 

They shall beat their swords into plowshares, 
And their spears into pruning-hooks ; 
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, 
Neither shall they learn war any more. 

10. Not only is memory, working through recitative and 
repetition, an important faculty in folk-lore, imagination 
also plays a very essential part. Imagination is, in fact, 
so requisite to an appreciation of this early literature that 
the person without it will find in folk-lore but scant pleas- 
ure. For folk-lore is made up very largely of figures of 
speech. This is always true of the rumor that floats about 
among unlettered people. It is particularly true when the 
tale or the song is the outburst of the fresh, poetic instinct 
of primitive peoples, unspoiled by self -consciousness, analy- 
sis, or even the echoes of the discipline of an artificial life. 
In the early poetry of the Hebrews the figures are very 
expressive and forceful; they are few in number but they 
recur again and again. Such figures have the power to draw 
pictures vividly and suggestively but with very few strokes. 
For example, the ignominious flight of Sisera in Deborah's 
■Song is represented in a few lines in which the cloudburst, 
the rapid rising of the river, the way the chariots were stuck 
in the mud, the terrific stamping of the horses' hoofs in the 
attempt to extricate the chariots, the flight of the captain on 
foot are all portrayed to eye and ear as well, for one can 
fairly hear the noise of the horses' hoofs. Again, the entire 
march of a triumphant army down the coast and its ig- 
nominious flight is represented in the verses in Isaiah 
17: 12-14, where its rushing, thundering tread is represented 
like the swishing and booming of the waves on the harbor- 
less coast. It is as vivid an example of onomatopoeia as 
Lowell's picture of Appledore in a storm with its "grinding, 
blinding, deafening ire," and much more brief. And no- 
where in literature is there so short and vivid an account of 
the siege and destruction of a city as that of Nineveh in 
Nahum 2 : 3-7. Much of the description in each of these 



FOLK-LORE 31 

illustrations is literal, but the brevity and effectiveness are 
due to the figures of speech, for a whole line of suggestion 
can be aroused by one word of figurative language and a 
picture painted in a moment, which it would take many 
words to explain in detail and literally. It is true, of course, 
that poetry must always be suggestive and symbolic and 
always presuppose the imaginative element. The point for 
us to bear in mind is that the Hebrew genius, as represented 
in the literature preserved in the Old Testament especially, 
was unusually imaginative and poetical and hence uses most 
abundantly very telling figures of speech. 

IL Irony is another element often found in folk-lore; 
not the satire of a more conscious literary period, but the 
delicious hits at human nature and even the sarcastic taunts 
of bitterness. Nothing is concealed, no feelings are re- 
pressed; restraint is not a virtue of primitive life. The 
essential element in irony and sarcasm is the ability to see 
contrasts, contrasts into which there sometimes enters the 
bitterness of disappointment, of anger, of revenge. Sarcasm 
is the primitive weapon of defense which the soul has who 
does not find what he expects. It is a cutting weapon, often 
a coarse one, but always a very effective one; in a more 
sophisticated age it may turn into satire, as it did in the 
prophetical literature. Simple yet pointed irony is present 
in Jotham^s Fable, in Elijah's Challenge to the Baalim on 
Mount Carmel, and in a mild form in the story Nathan told 
David about the ewe Iamb. 

12. Humor is another characteristic prevalent in folk- 
lore, because humor is an essential quality of unspoiled 
human nature. Did the Hebrews have a sense of humor? 
It has been questioned by some because the Hebrews took 
such a serious view of life and of man as a sinner before 
the holy God. But one reason why this puritanical version 
of Biblical literature has been accepted is because it was 
the puritan temperament which made it. A sense of the 
solemnity of life the Hebrews did have, but this is not at all 
incompatible with a sense of humor. It has often been re- 
marked that we never should have had the story of Jonah 



82 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

and the whale without it and certainly the allegory of "The 
Woman and the Barrel" in Zechariah 5:5-11, the early, 
rough folk-tale of the priest Micah in Judges 17 and 18, and 
the story of "Samson the Sunny" in Judges 14-16 depend 
upon a sense of humor. In Judges 18: 16, Gideon's humor 
must have pleased himself at any rate, when he taught the 
men of Succoth with thorns and briars. The puns and plays 
on words of which the Hebrew writers were very fond are a 
sign of the appreciation of humor. This comes out beauti- 
fully in ])r()])hetic literature in a correct translation of 
Micah 1 : 10 when the prophet charges the people — 

Tell it not in Tell-town, 

In Exult-town exult not, 

In Wccp-town weep, 

In House of Dust roll in Dust. 

Pass away, O inhabitants of Fair-town, naked. 

The inhabitants of March-town shall not march forth.* 

Humor like irony and sarcasm is shown by analysis to 
be based on contrast. The (piick juxtaposition of the small 
and the great, the short and the tall, the boastful and the 
modest make us smile, especially when consequences are 
involved. But humor is mild and innocent and makes us 
laugh; irony has a little vSting to it, while sarcasm is bitter 
and revengeful and makes us angry. The Hebrews were 
adepts at contrast and consequently they had a lively sense 
of humor. They even said God laughed in heaven at the 
petty performances of men. 

These are the main cliaracteristics of folk-lore every- 
where. Since Biblical literature holds them all embodied in 
the simple, naive fashion of untutored folk in such frag- 
ments as have been discovered, we are sure that the Hebrews 
began their literary expression just as other races did. We 
have found enougli to make us believe that tliey had much 
more that has been lost, for the l^ible contains by no means 
all of the literature of this interesting people; only frag- 
ments preserved througli persecutions and many distresses 

9 Sec tratislation in Kent, (.'. ["'.. Student's Old Testament. 



FOLK-LORE S8 

have come down to us because imbedded in religious his- 
tory. 

We have been discussing folk-lore in general. For con- 
venience we may classify it in two divisions, that of poetry 
and that of prose. Not all folk-lore is in the form of song ; 
some heroic legends and fairy tales would be classified under 
this type of literature, as for example, the Arabian Nights 
and Grimm's and Andersen's Fairy Tales and the Indian 
myths mentioned above. Myths, properly defined, likewise 
belong here. They are often transmitted in song but very 
often also in prose. Many fables, riddles, and proverbs be- 
long here also but not all, for writers of a much later age 
have often imitated these early forms of expression, usually 
introducing the didactic element which is a sure sign of a 
later period. 

In folk-song, of course, we are dealing with poetry, and 
among folk-songs we find three sorts. First there is the 
ballad. This is a short, narrative poem, heroic and popular, 
which may be sung. This was perhaps the first and best 
exponent of the feelings of the people. Then there is the 
epic poem. This is a longer narrative, carrying events 
through a series of scenes. Early history was thus pre- 
served, often quite accurately, always very vividly. Deb- 
orah's Song is sometimes called a ballad and sometimes an 
epic ballad, for while it is short and was very likely sung 
about the camp fires, it is a long enough narrative to carry 
us through a cycle of events. It is also sometimes called an 
ode, for it celebrates a heroine and if that heroine is taken 
as the center of attraction it is an outburst of praise in 
her honor, or if it was composed by her rather than in her 
honor it is her exultant expression of gratitude to her 
God for victory obtained. This term, however, is Greek 
rather than Hebrew and implies a conscious authorship 
hardly compatible with the early origin of this poem and 
its epic as well as lyric character. This definition of an ode 
leads us to the third kind of folk-song, namely, song, pure 
and simple. The poetry of the Hebrews is usually lyrical ; 
that is, their poems were the short, spontaneous outbursts 



34 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

of very personal feeling, the feeling of the crowd or often 
even of the individual. "The Song of the Well" was the joy- 
ous expression of the tribe at finding water. The original 
version of "Miriam's Song" was the victorious war chant 
composed very likely by one individual to be, sung by all. 
The chief characteristic of folk-song as distinct from prose 
folk-lore is its rhythmical arrangement for singing and 
dancing. 

SECTION III : FOLK-SONGS — EXAMPLES 

[The text to be used in connection with the examples 
given under each type of literature should be the Revised 
Version, for an attempt has been made in that translation 
to print in poetical form much of the material which was 
undoubtedly intended as poetry in the original. Much 
more, however, than the revisers saw as poetry has been 
shown to be so by more recent scholars. They have also 
succeeded often in rendering certain phrases more in accord 
with the original rhythm. Hence translations are here in- 
serted which will make apparent the peculiar rhythmical 
structure of the Hebrew. The King James Version should 
also be at hand, because our earliest English translators suc- 
ceeded so superbly in putting into beautiful English the 
charm and imagery, the deep feeling and the sublimity of 
expression of the original. This version is not, however, 
so true to the exact Hebrew form, nor the precise meaning 
of the words. 

A word of explanation is necessary also concerning the 
use of the name for the deity. The Hebrew is literally 
Yahweh (sometimes spelled Jahveh), but owing to the 
fact that the rabbis considered the name too sacred to pro- 
nounce they inserted in their manuscripts in the word Yah- 
weh the vowels for Lord, Athonai, to remind themselves 
to pronounce that word instead of Yahweh as they read 
the text. The Authorized or King James version retains 
Lord, as does also the English Revised version. The Ameri- 
can revisers thought best to print the word Jehovah which 



FOLK-LORE 85 

is not a real Hebrew word, being made up of the consonants 
in Yahweh and the vowels in Athonai. The translations of 
more recent scholars usually employ Yahweh. When not 
otherwise indicated the text used here is that of the Ameri- 
can Standard Revised Version.] 

The Song of the Sword, Genesis 4 : 23-24. 

In order to get the setting for this very primitive song 
one should read the prose description beginning with verse 
19. There it is stated that Jabal and Jubal, the sons of 
Adah, were respectively the ancestors of the nomads and the 
musicians, while Tubal-cain, the son of Zillah, was the 
"instructor of every artificer"^ in making cutting instru- 
ments of brass and iron. In other words here is an attempt 
to trace back to the beginning the discovery of certain arts, 
and a tribe or the father of a tribe is made responsible. 
Then the verse of six lines is introduced which is probably 
very much older than the prose account, and was a folk- 
song of Bedouin revenge. "It literally reeks of blood and 
vengeance." It may have been composed even before the 
law of blood-revenge was known, a law recognized in early 
Hebrew history and common among Bedouin to-day. Arab 
chiefs have a custom even now of coming home from some 
adventure and with brandishing sword boasting of their 
bloody encounters before their assembled wives. The 
"wives of Lamech" in this song probably meant all the 
women of the tribe. If the art of making swords of brass 
which would cut had just been discovered, the triumph of 
the experiment would naturally be celebrated with great 
joy. However, it may have been composed later than that 
event. Its introduction in this setting would then be a 
fancy of the prose writer. The musical quality of this song 
and its adaptability to singing and dancing can be better 
realized when we understand that in the Hebrew the first 
four lines end uniformly in the vowel i (=e), that the 
first three lines and the fifth are lines of four accents or 
beats while the fourth and sixth are shortened to three. 

7 See marginal translatipn. 



36 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

The following translation is an attempt to bring out this 
effect in English. 

Adah and Zillah, hear my saying, 
Wives of Lamech, listen my speaking: 
For a man have I slain for my wounding, . 
And a youth for my striking. 
If sevenfold Cain shall sure be avenged, 
Then Lamech seventy and seven.^ 

Another translation which helps us to get close to the 
original is the following — 

Adah and Zillah, hear my voice ! 
Wives of Lamech, attend to my word ! 
For I kill a man for a wound to me, 
And a boy for a scar. 
For Cain takes vengeance seven times, 
But Lamech seventy times seven.^ 

The Song of the Well, Numbers 21 : 17, 18. 

This is a song of the desert celebrating the finding of a 
well or spring as the Israelites crossed the desert. The 
Arabs even to-day have the same custom. It is a most 
welcome thing when they come across such a well. They 
dance around it and sing songs of it as if it were a living 
object. The desire of the Israelites to find springs of water 
is shown in Judges 1 : 15 and Joshua 15: 19, and the value 
they set upon it in Genesis 21 : 22-34. The Hebrew word 
for well, Be'er, is found in many place-names such as Beer- 
oth, Beersheba, Beerelim, and the expression "living water" 
is often used in the Bible both literally and figuratively.^^ 
It is small wonder that in such a dry country Hfe-giving 
water should mean so much. It was a very early belief 
throughout that entire region that every spring had its Baal 
or spirit. It was a still earlier belief that the spring or 
well was itself a living thing. There was an old Bedouin 
ceremony of dedicating a well to a shiek with the use of his 

8 This translation is that of Fowler, H. T., Th^ History of the Literature of 
Ancient Israel. 

9 Translation of Skinner, John, in International Critical Commentary, Genesis. 
10 See Genesis 26:19, Song of Solomon 4:15, Jeremiah 2:13, Zechariah 

14: 8, John 4: 10, II. 



FOLK-LORE 37 

staff and calling it afterwards by his name, as Jacob's well 
was named for the ancestor of the Israelites. The chief did 
not actually do the work of digging with his staff. When 
a spring was found the stones were taken out by hand by 
other men, the well covered over and later a symbolical 
ceremony performed somewhat like the laying of a foun- 
dation-stone to-day when the first trowel-full of mortar is 
applied by some dignitary after everything is made ready. 
Perhaps this "Song of the Well" was a song which the 
Israelites sang at such ceremonies of uncovering a well. 
The references to the princes and the staves would seem 
to harmonize with this idea. It was doubtless composed 
long before it was inserted in the prose setting in which we 
find it. 

Another ceremony was sometimes held over a well where 
the spring had ceased to flow, in order to persuade it to 
flow again. It has been suggested that the Hebrew women 
sang this well-song as they stood around a village fountain 
waiting for their turn to draw, thus trying to coax the 
water to flow faster.^^ But the first interpretation is prob- 
ably the better one. 

This four-line verse is a very good example of the typical 
early folk-song. Some translators make it a six-line stanza 
by including the first prose line in the text following it, 
giving it a different translation from that in our Bibles, and 
dividing the first line in two. 

Thus — 



Spring up, well : 

Sing in response to it — 

Well that the princes digged, 

That the rulers of the people delved, 

With their sceptres and their staves, 

A gift from the desert.^^ 

The rhythm of accent is brought out a little better when 
some of the unnecessary words of our version are omitted. 

11 W. R. vSmith's interpretation, 

12 See Gordon, A. R., The Poets of the Old Testament, for translation. 



38 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

Thus— 

Spring up, O well ! Sing to it I 
Well that the princes dug 
That the nobles of the people delved, 
With sceptre, with their staffs.^^ 

The last two lines give an example of rhyme, so rare in 
Hebrew poetry. Professor Fowler tries to reproduce it 
thus — 

Well that the nobles may now quaff. 
Opened with their sceptre and their staff. 

Following is a modern Arab well-song — 

Spring up, O well, 

Flow copiously. 

Drink and disdain not, 

With a staff have we dug it.^* 

Three Brief Songs of Victory, Exodus 15:1-3, / Samuel 

18 : 7, and Joshua 10 : 12-13. 
Song of Moses and Miriam, Exodus 15 : 1-3. 

In the book of Exodus after the description of the cross- 
ing of the Red Sea by the Israelites in their flight from 
Egypt, the writer inserts a poem of eighteen verses, intro- 
ducing it by the words, "Then sang Moses and the children 
of Israel this song unto Jehovah." It is a very exultant 
triumph for a signal success in outwitting the Egyptian 
troops which were sent after them. At the close the prose 
account picks up the theme of the first verse and explains 
it and then says that Miriam with a timbrel in her hand 
led all the women in a dance while she sang this verse. 

For this reason, the emphasis upon the refrain and the 
accompanying dance, and also for two other very good 
ones, it is thought that the original song was only one verse 
in length or perhaps three and that Miriam improvised it 
for the occasion or that Moses and Miriam composed it 

13 H. T. Fowler's translation. 

14 T. H. Weir, Expositor, July, 1910, p. 81, quoted in Gordon, Poets of the 

Old Testament. 



FOLK-LORE 39 

together and that Miriam led the women in singing as was 
the custom when warriors came home from battle victorious. 
The second reason for thinking the original song was much 
briefer than it is given in our accepted text is that the 
elaborate details and rather didactic tone of what follows 
seem more like the style and purpose of later writers. The 
third reason is the likeness of many of the phrases to those 
used centuries afterwards.^^ However, one might explain 
this coincidence by saying that the phrases of the song had 
entered so deeply into the minds and hearts of the people 
that they could not help but repeat them. All things con- 
sidered it is the general opinion of scholars that the song 
which Moses or Miriam or both of them together composed 
on the spur of the moment to be sung then and there, was 
either just the first verse or the first three verses with the 
first lines brought in again as a refrain. Then some later 
writer took this as the nucleus of a longer poem. Possibly 
it was sung antiphonally with male and female choruses. 
The Hebrew has fewer words and fewer accents to a line 
than in our accepted English translation. The following 
rendering brings out the rhythm better. 

Sing ye to Yahweh, 
For in triumph he rose: 
Horse and chariot, 
He cast to the sea.^^ 

The stirring qualities of the song are readily felt and even 
at this late day, so far removed from the occasion, we can 
almost join Miriam and her women in the joyous singing 
and dance. It would naturally be a song long to be remem- 
bered and sung over and over again. 

The Song of the Women over David's Success, / Samuel 
18:7. 
Here is another community song sung by the women 

when the young, attractive hero, David, came home from 

battle more successful even than the king. The prose con- 
is compare verse 2 with Isaiah 12: 2 and Psalm 118:14; verses 8 and 17 

with Psalms 78: 13, 54; verse 5 with Nehemiah 9:11. 
16 See Fowler. 



40 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

text tells us dearly that this was the custom of the women 
in all of the cities through which he passed and that they 
danced ''with timbrels, with joy, and with instruments of 
music." This is plainly then a j-enuine community folk- 
song. Doubtless they sang it many times during the long 
lifetime of this beloved hero, and very likely the women 
taught it in the village streets to the young men and maidens 
and the boys and girls, for we know from the Bible that they 
were accustomed to join in the dances.^*^ Even King David 
himself enjoyed this sport with enthusiasm. ^^ 

The Great Day at Gibeon, Joshua 10 : 12-13. 

This is another good example of a four-line folk-song. 
It celebrates Joshua's striking victory over the Amorite 
kings of Southern Canaan. It must be borne in mind in 
connection with all of these songs and especially this one, 
that folk-poetry is almost always highly figurative and that 
the figures must be understood in order to catch the mean- 
ing of the poetry. The Hebrew imagination was always 
very much alive and it was not strange that nomadic tribes, 
nursed and developed out in the open, traveHng often by 
night to avoid the heat of the sun, and watching the moon 
and the stars, should picture many situations in metaphors 
borrowed from their intimacy with the heavens. In Deb- 
orah's Song the author tells us that "from heaven fought 
the stars" when a cloudburst was meant, and here the Sun 
and the Moon are adjured to stand still in order that the day 
may be long enough to give the Israelites the victory. It 
seemed as if they obeyed, for such a victory was gained as 
was almost too much to hope for in one short day. The 
prose editor who wrote up the account long afterwards and 
who inserted this triumphant battle song which had been 
used to celebrate the occasion, was very literally-minded for 
he was at great pains to explain that that day was as long 
as two ordinary days. 

17 Judges 21:21, Psalm 30:11, Job 21:11, Jeremiah 31:13, Lamentations 
5: 15, Matthew 11: 17. 

18 2 Samuel 6: 14. 



FOLK-LORE 41 

The rhythm of the last Hne is more accurately brought 
out by the following translation — 

Till the folk had their lust on their foes.^^ 

The context tells us that this song was taken from the Book 
of Jashar. The word Jashar probably means upright or 
brave. Therefore this book was an old collection of Songs 
of the Brave. There is also another source book mentioned 
in the early history of the Israelites, "The Book of the Wars 
of Jehovah." Several folk-songs in the Bible are ac- 
credited definitely to one or the other of these two collec- 
tions. ^° It is natural to suppose that others belonged there 
although such a statement failed to be made. Professor 
Genung made the following probable lists — 
From "The Book of the Wars of Jehovah"— 

Song at the Red Sea, Exodus 15: 1-18. 

The Ark Song, Numbers 10:35,36. 

Song of the Valley, Numbers 21 : 14, 15. 

Song of the Well, Numbers 21 : 17, 18. 

Satire on the Fall of Heshbon, Numbers 21 : 27-30. 

The Oracles of Balaam, Numbers 23 and 24. 

The Song of Deborah, Judges 5. 
From "The Book of Jasher" — 

The Song of Moses, Deuteronomy 32: i-43. 

The Blessing of Moses, Deuteronomy 33 : 2-29. 

Apostrophe to Sun and Moon, Joshua 10: 12, 13 (frag- 
ment) . 

David's Elegy on Saul and Jonathan, II Samuel 
1 : 19-27. 

David's Lament over Abner, II Samuel 3 : 33, 34 (prob- 
ably fragment). 

David's Last Words, II Samuel 23 : 1-17. 

Solomon's Words at Dedication of Temple, I Kings 
8:12,13. 
Professor Geden added others from what he considered 
similar sources, making a list of twenty-five such songs. 

i» See Gordon. 

-0 See Numbers 21: -4; Joshua 10:13; 2 Samuel 1:18. 



42 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

( 1 ) Song of the Sword, Genesis 4 : 23, 24. 

(2) Noah's Curse and Blessing, Genesis 9 : 25-27. 

(3) Isaac's Blessing of Jacob, Genesis 27:27-29. 

(4) Isaac's Blessing of Esau, Genesis 27 : 39-40. 

(5) Jacob's Prophecy of the Future of his Sons, Gen- 
esis 49 : 2-27. 

(6) Song of Moses and Miriam, Exodus 15: 1-18, 2L 

(7) The Ten Words, Exodus 20:2-17. 

(8) Words for the Taking up and Setting down of the 
Ark, Numbers 10 : 35, 36. 

(9) Song of the Valley, Numbers 21 : 14, 15. 

(10) Song of the Well, Numbers 21 : 17, 18. 

(11) Satire on the Fall of Heshbon, Numbers 21 : 27-30. 

(12) Oracles of Balaam, Numbers 23:7-10, 18-24; 
24:3-9,15-24. 

(13) Curses of the Law, Deuteronomy 27: 15-26. 

(14) Song of Moses, Deuteronomy 32: 1-43. 

(15) Blessing of Moses, Deuteronomy 33:2-29. 

(16) Song at Gibeon, Joshua 10: 12, 13. 

(17) Song of Deborah, Judges 5. 

(18) Jotham's Fable, Judges 9:8-15. 

(19) Samson's Riddle and Sayings, Judges 14:14,18; 
15:16. 

(20) Hannah's Prayer, I Samuel 2: i-lO. 

(21) Song of Women over David's Prowess, I Samuel 
18: 7; 21: 11. 

(22) David's Lament over Saul and Jonathan, II Samuel 
1 : 19-27. 

(23) David's Elegy on the Death of Abner, II Samuel 
3:33,34. 

(24) David's Song of Deliverance, II Samuel 22. 

(25) Last Words of David, II Samuel 23: l-7.2i 
Others in these lists we shall remark upon later as illus- 
trating certain types of rhythm or of thought. Attention is 
called to one more four-line verse quoted by one of the 
prophets, probably a very early popular farmer's proverb. 

21 For these lists see Genung, Franklin, Guidebook to Biblical Literature, pp. 
6i and 62. 



FOLK-LORE 43 

A cornstalk all yellow 
Brings no meal to a fellow; 
But if grains should bend it, 
The wild ox would end it^^ 

This proverb comes as a surprise even to those very 
familiar vvith the Bible in our ordinary versions. The 
reader should compare it with the prose translation of 
either the King James or the Revised versions. It simply 
shows how much modern scholarship has done in discover- 
ing and applying the principles underlying Hebrew poetry. 
The attempt here is made to restore the original rhythm 
and even to imitate the rhyme in English. This is another 
of the very few fragments of rhymed song in the Old 
Testament. The fact that the prophet Hosea should quote 
this saying, probably quite familiar to those to whom he 
was preaching, shows how close he was to the life of the 
people, as were all the prophets. 

Deborah's Song, Judges 5. 

We turn now to the famous war ballad of Deborah. This 
is the earliest piece of literature of any length which we 
have in the Bible, and its stirring qualities of vigor and 
rhythm, its vivid scenes and picturesqueness of detail, its 
enthusiastic loyalty of spirit, and "glowing hatred" of the 
foe make it rank with the very finest ballads we have in 
any literature. It is so spontaneous, fresh, and vital and 
its figures are so realistic in their picturesqueness that it 
must have been written soon after the event. The battle 
occurred in the tenth century B.C. when the Israelites were 
getting settled in the land of Canaan. This poem, then, 
was as early as Homer's epics, if not earlier. It was a crude, 
barbaric age then in Palestine which can be compared well 
with the period of Boadicea in England or of the Scottish 
clans. In order to be appreciated it should be read in a 
modern translation and with dramatic arrangement and if 
possible aloud. The prose account in Judges 4 was written 
much later, but there are some explanations there which 

22 See translation in nuhm, Bernhard, The Twelve Profkets, p. 99. 



44 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

help us to picture the setting. The main facts are the same 
in both accounts although there are some discrepancies and 
where this is true the older or poetic version is given the 
precedence.^^ 

The Theme Announced 

That leaders took lead in Israel, 
That the people were willing, 
Bless ye Yahweh.^* 

Historical Prelude in Praise of Yahweh 

Hearken, ye kings; rulers give ear: 

I, even I, will sing to Yahweh, 

Will sing praise to Yahweh, God of Israel. 

Yahweh, in thy start from Seir, 

On thy march from the field of Edom, 

The earth quaked, yea, heaven rocked, 

Yea, the clouds dropped water. 

The mountains shook before Yahweh 

Before Yahweh. the God of Israel.^s 



Description of Israel's Sad Estate Be- 
fore the Battle 

From the days of Shamgar ben-Anath, 

From the days of old, caravans ceased, 

And they that went along the ways 

Used to walk by crooked paths. 

Villages ceased in Israel, 

And hushed was the work of the country folk, 

No shield was seen, or spear, 

'Mong the forty thousands in Israel — 

Till thou 26 didst ^rise, Deborah, 

Didst arise as a mother in Israel. 

23 The rendering given here follows C, F. Burney's and G. A. Smith's trans- 
lations for the most part but there are certain lines where a paraphrase is used 
for the sake of preserving the rhythm or making the meaning a little clearer. 
The rhythm comes out more clearly when most of the proper names are 
accented on the last syllable, Yahweh, Deborah, Barak, Canaan, Kishon, 
Shamgar ben-Anath, etc. See Burney, Judges; G. A. Smith, Early Hebrew 
Poetry. 

24 "Bless 3^6 Yahweh" means "blessing song" or "a song of thanksgiving," 
just as we have Hallelujah Psalms or "songs of praise." See Burney, The Book 
of Judges, p. io6. 

25 This refers to some great earthquake and storm during the wanderings 
of the Israelites, revealing God's majesty and strength. The words "even yon 
Sinai (as in our ordinary version) are doubtless an explanatory addition by 
the editor for they destroy the rhythm of the line. 

26 For discussion of the form of this verb, whether first or second person, 
see Burney, p. ii6. 



FOLK-LORE 4,5 



A Wild War Chant to Arouse the 
Leaders ^^ 

Awake, awake, Deborah ! 

Awake, strike up a song! 

Up with thee, Barak i put on thy strength 

Capture thy captors, thou son of Abinoam. 

A Refrain of Gratitude 

My heart is to Israel's leaders, 
The people's willing ones 
Bless ye Yahweh — 

Tell of it, ye riders of white she-asses,^^ 

And ye that walk by the way. 

Hark to the maidens laughing at the wells I ^9 

There they recount the righteous acts of Yahweh, 

The righteous acts of his arm in Israel. 

The Muster of the Clans 

Then down to the gates gat the nobles ; 
Yahweh's folk gat them down mid the heroes. 
From Ephraim they spread out on the vale; 
"After thee, Benjamin I" mid thy clansmen, 
From Machir came down the commanders, 
And from Zebulun men wielding the truncheon. 
Men of Issachar marched with Deborah, 
And Naphtali was leal to Barak: 
To the vale he was loosed at his heel. 

Reproach of the Faithless and Praise of the 
Brave 

Utterly reft into factions was Reuben; 

Great were his searchings of heart. 

Why sat'st thou still mid the sheep-folds, 

To Hst to the pipings for flocks? 

Gilead stayed at home beyond Jordan, 

And Dan sat still by the ships. 

Asher remained by the shore of the seas, 

Quietly dwelt by his creeks. 

But Zebulun — he flung his soul to the death, 

And Naphtali on the heights of the field. 

27 These lines seem naturally to precede the following, contrary to our 
ordinary version. 

28 Rulers rode on white asses, or "tawny" or "roan," which were "white, 
flea speckled with red" or a "light-reddish-grey." They were very rare and 
therefore prized and only for princely people. The she-ass was preferred for 
riding because more tractable than the male. 

29 For the difficulties in translating this line see Burney, pp. 125-129. 



46 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 



The Battle and Rout 

On came the kings, they fought; 

Then fought the kings of Canaan ; 

In Taanach, by the rills of Megiddo : so 

No gain of money took they ! 

From heaven fought the stars ; 

From their courses they fought with Sisera. 

The river Kishon swept them off; 

It faced them, the torrent Kishon. 

Bless thou, my soul, the might of Yahweh ! 

Then thudded the hoofs of the horses: 

Off galloped, off galloped his chargers. 

Curse ye, curse ye Meroz ! 3i 

Curse ye, curse ye her townsfolk 

For they came not to the help of Yahweh, 

To the help of Yahweh mid the heroes. 



The Retribution 

Most blessed of women be Jael 

Of tent-dwelling women most blessed! 

Water he asked and milk she gave, 

Buttermilk brought in a lordly bowl. 

She put her hand to the tent-pin. 

And her right hand to the workman's hammer; 

And she hammered Sisera, she shattered his head, 

She smashed, she hacked, through his temples. 

'Twixt her feet he bowed, he fell down, he lay: 

'Twixt her feet he bowed, he fell down. 

Where he bowed, there he fell down dead! 



The Anxiety of Sisera's Mother 

Out through the window she leaned and exclaimed 
The mother of Sisera out through the lattice : 

'Wherefore delayeth his car to come?' 

Her wisest princesses make answer, 

Yea, she returns her words to herself : 

'Are they not finding, dividing the spoil? 

A damsel — two damsels for each man: 

A spoil of dyed stuffs for Sisera, 

A spoil of dyed stuffs embroidered : 

Dyes, double brocade, for the neck of the queen?' 

30 The ancient battlefield. 

31 Meroz was probably a village through which Sisera ran on his road home. 



FOLK-LORE 47 



Conclusion 

So perish all thy foes, Yahweh: 

But be thy friends like the sun going forth in his strength. 

A discussion of the technical points regarding the rhythm 
of this poem is reserved for the chapter on Hebrew Poetry. 
We will simply observe here that primitive folk were very 
fond of the four-beat measure, and call attention to the ef- 
fective use of two poetical devices, onomatopoeia, or the 
imitation of sound by words, in the representation of the 
galloping of the horses in their flight; and prosopopoeia, 
representing an actual or ideal person as present or speak- 
ing. This last figure is found in verse 5 where God himself 
is present at the earthquake and again when Sisera's mother 
is conversing with her ladies. In imitating the sound of the 
horses' hoofs in verse 22 the Hebrew succeeds beautifully 
by the repetition of the words daharu, daharu, accented 
on the last syllable. Dr. Bumey compares with this Charles 
Kingsley's lines in My Hunting Song: 

Hark to them, ride to them, beauties I as on they go, 
Leaping and sweeping away in the vale below. 

and also Browning's couplet in How they Brought the Good 
News from Ghent to Aix: 

I sprang to the stirrup, and Joris, and he ; 

I galloped, Dirck galloped, we galloped all three. 

The German translation of this passage in Judges brings 
out the effect well — 

Da stampfen die Hufe der Rosse: 
Der Galopp, der Galopp der Renner ! 

It would be well to compare this rousing war ballad with 
two of the old Scottish ballads The Battle of Harlow and 
Flodden Field.^^ 

32 To be found in Child's English and Scottish Popular Ballcfds, Vol. Ill, pp. 
316 and 351. 



48 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

REMINDERS OF FOLK-SONG IN LATER POETRY, 

Two Vineyard Songs. 

We have evidences in the Bible that it was the custom in 
Palestine as in other lands for the country-folk to sing and 
dance in the vineyards. In Isaiah 16 : 10 we read "And 
gladness is taken away, and joy out of the fruitful field ; and 
in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither joyful 
noise : no treader shall tread out wine in the presses ; I have 
made the vintage shout to cease." And again in Jeremiah 
25 : 30, "He will give a shout, as they that tread the grapes." 
In Isaiah 65 : 8 a line of a vintage song is evidently quoted, 
"As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, 
'Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it.' " But no complete 
vineyard song has come down to us ; probably there was no 
collection made of such songs of peace and of industry as 
of the songs of war and of the brave. There are three 
Psalms whose musical instructions at the beginning tell us 
they were to be sung to the tune of some well-known vin- 
tage song, "the Gittith." ^^ These are Psalms 8, 81, and 
84 and their joyous character seems to suit such a tune 
although they themselves were strictly religious hymns. 
However in the fifth chapter of Isaiah we have an adapta- 
tion or an imitation of such a song by this very versatile 
and poetic prophet who sought every means and occasion to 
catch the ear of the people. The first three stanzas are 
doubtless very much like the songs sung at the festivals held 
when the grape harvest was over. Often there were wed- 
dings at such gala times. The Song of Solomon contains a 
wedding song which has especial reference to the vineyard 
(Song of Solomon 7: 11 f¥). Here then in Isaiah 5 we have 
the prophet attracting the attention of the crowd by starting 
a song of an unfruitful vineyard. He makes a parable of 
it at the end and in the last stanza plainly discloses his 
meaning and purpose. This last stanza also changes in 

33 See Briggs, C, A., International Critical Commentary, Psalms, Vol. I 
Introduction, par. 34. 



FOLK-LORE 49 

meter. "The light, tripping effect of short lines gives place 
to longer and weightier lines in the grave and solemn appli- 
cation of the parable at the close." 

Isaiah's Parable of the Vineyard, Isaiah 5. 

A song will I sing of my friend, 

A love-sOng touching his vineyard. 

A vineyard belongs to my friend, 

On a hill that is fruitful and sunny ; 

He digged it and cleared it of stones. 

And planted there vines that are choice; 

A tower he built in the midst, 

And a winepress therein he had hewn; 

Then he looked to find grapes that are good, 

Alas! it bore grapes that are wild. 

Ye, in Jerusalem dwelling, 

And ye, who are freeman of Judah, 

Judge ye, I pray, between me 

And the vineyard which I have cherished. 

What more could I do for my vineyard 

That I had neglected to do ? 

When I looked to find grapes that are good, 

Why bore it grapes that are wild? 

. So now let me give you to know 
What I purpose to do to my vineyard: 
I will tear off its hedge, 
That the beasts may devour it ; ^4 
I will break through its walls^ 
That they trample it down ; 
Yea, I will make it a waste, 
Unpruned and unweeded; 

With thorns and with briars overgrown shall it be, 
And the clouds will I enjoin that they rain not upon it. 

For the vineyard of Yahweh of Hosts is the household of Israel, 
And the freemen of Judah his cherished plantation : 
But instead of the justice he looked for was bloodshed. 
Instead of the right was the cry of the wronged.^^ 

The Lord's Delightful Vineyard, Isaiah 27 : 2-6. 

This, too, is a parable, the explanation being given in the 
last stanza. The vineyard is the house of Jacob which 

34 "Much of the treeless character of Palestine is due to the grazing off of 
unprotected shoots by goats." 

35 This translation is after Cheyne and McFadyen. 



50 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

shall become so prosperous and fruitful that the whole 
world shall feel its influence. Of course the briars and 
thorns are the enemies to the life of this people. Yahweh 
himself is attending to its development, guarding it and 
nourishing it every moment. There is a decided contrast in 
thought between this poem and the last. In Isaiah 5 Yah- 
weh is caring most assiduously for his vineyard, expecting 
good returns ; yet he gets none and is so angry with the 
worthless vines that he tears them up. Here he cares con- 
tinuously for the vineyard, cherishing each plant lest its 
leaves be missing, and is angry only when he thinks of the 
briars and thorns that might try to grow there. That is, 
God is here represented as angry with the outside enemies, 
whereas in the first song it is the wickedness of the Israelites 
themselves which is the occasion of his wrath. This situa- 
tion, as well as the style of the poem leads scholars to think 
that it was not written by Isaiah but by some one much 
later, perhaps in the Persian period when a few of the 
Israelites had returned from captivity and were trying now 
to hold their own in the face of great obstacles. The 
Hebrew text is very corrupt and it is therefore difficult to 
translate, but probably the version given below is close to 
the original thought and rh)rthm, for it evidently consists of 
short lines grouped in verses, the lines having two or three 
accents each. The first and second verses (or second and 
third of the chapter) show one of the rare examples of 
rhyme in the Old Testament, which is not represented in 
the English translation. 

A vineyard delightful — 
Sing ye to it. 

I, Yahweh, am its keeper: 
I water it moment by moment ; 
Lest its leaves be missing, 
By day and by night I keep it. 

I cherish no anger against it; 

But had I the briars and thorns, 

I would trample them down in the fray. 

I would burn them up altogether. 



FOLK-LORE 51 

Else, then, let them seek My protection, 
And let them make peace with Me; 
Yea, peace let them make with Me. 

That day shall Jacob take root, 

Israel shall blossom and bud, 

And with fruit fill the face of the world.^' 

Two Husbandry Songs. 

I. The Poem of the Farmer, Isaiah 28 : 23-29. 

Listen, and hear my voice; 

Attend and give ear to my speech. 

Doth the plowman keep plowing for ever, 

Keep opening and harrowing his ground? 

Doth he not, after leveling its surface, 

Scatter broadcast fennel and cummin, 

And plant there wheat and barley. 

And spelt for its border? 

Yahweh it is that hath trained him aright, 

And his God it is that hath taught him. 

Men thresh not fennel with sledges, 

Nor are cart-wheels rolled over cummin; 

But fennel is threshed with a staff. 

And cummin with a flail. 

Do we ever crush bread-corn to pieces? 

Nay, we do not keep threshing for ever; 

But after the wheel has rolled over it. 

We spread it, but do not crush it. 

From Yahweh of Hosts doth this also proceed, 

Wonderful counsel, great wisdom hath He.^^ 

This poem is inserted in Isaiah's severe prophecy against 
the scoffers of Judah. He has warned them that if they 
go on disregarding Yahweh's counsel they will surely come 
to grief. The poem would show that God has a method 
in his dealings with men just as the farmer has a method 
in the way he cultivates his ground. If he does not observe 
the laws God has taught him he surely meets disaster. 
Cummin and fennel are small seeds valuable as condiments ; 
they are so small and tender that they would be crushed 
beyond use if threshed like hard corn with a heavy roller. 
Cummin seed could easily be separated from its thin case 

36 See McFadyen, Gray, and Cheyne for translations. 

37 For translations see McFadyen and lyent. 



52 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

by being beaten with a slender rod, while fennel seed is en- 
closed in a harder pod, and must have a stouter staff to dis- 
lodge it. Spelt is one of the ordinary cereals of the East, 
closely resembling wheat but with a coarser and rougher 
sheath and a longer beard; it does not need to be handled 
so carefully and can be sown on the border as a protection 
to the less hardy plants.^^ 

This poem does not seem like the style of the rest of the 
chapter. Therefore it is thought that Isaiah quotes it as 
one familiar to the people of his time which would enforce 
what he has already said, or perhaps more probably the 
editor of the book inserted it later as appropriate to the 
theme of the prophecy. At any rate it gives us an interest- 
ing glimpse into the life of the farmer and the attention he 
paid to details and the science of farming even in those 
ancient days. It also shows us that Biblical writers thought 
the agricultural life a fit theme for praise as they have in 
all literatures. The old Exmoor Harvest Song preserved 
for us in Lorna Doone^^ is a good example of an Eng- 
lish farmer's folk-song and one may well compare with our 
Biblical poem Vergil's first Georgic and the lines — 

Many the wise old maxims I could tell. 

If patient thou woulds't hear, not wearying 

Of sage acquaintance with small tasks and cares. 

This notably, to smooth the threshing-floor, 

Break it by hand and roll with large round stone. 

Then face with close-packed clay, lest weeds push through 

Or the worn surface crack.^*^ 

or the lines in the second Georgic — 

Happy the man, who studying Nature's laws, 
Through known effects can trace the secret cause — 
His mind possessing in a quiet state, 
Fearless of Fortune, and resigned to Fate ! ^^ 

This last quotation from Vergil would have been especially 
applicable at this very time of Isaiah's prophecy when he 

38. See Tristram, H.. Jt>., Natural History of the Bible. 

39 For extracts see also Wild, Geographic Influences in Old Testament Mas- 
terpieces, p. 143. 

40 See translation by T. C. Williams. 

41 See Dryden's famous translation which may be found in The Oxford 
Book of Latin Verse. 



FOLK-LORE 53 

was trying his best to keep his people calm and trustful in 
the Lord and His laws instead of rushing hysterically to 
some other nation for help when the political situation be- 
came ominous. Thus do the great seers and poets arrive at 
the same fundamental thoughts throughout the ages. 

2. In Praise of the Pastoral Life, Proverbs 27:23-27. 

Look well to the appearance of thy flock, 
Give careful attention to thy herds, 

For riches last not forever, 
Nor wealth to all generations. 

When the hay is removed and the aftermath appears, 
And the grass of the mountains is gathered, ^^ 

Then the lambs will supply thee with clothing, 
And goats furnish the price of a field. 

And there will be goat's milk enough for thy food, 
And enough for the maintenance of thy maidens.*^ 

From earliest remembrance the Israelites had been a pastoral 
people. Much of the land was better adapted to the raising 
of animals, especially sheep, than to agriculture. The long 
months of the dry season when not a drop of rain fell were 
very trying to crops, whereas the sheep and cattle could 
wander from pasture to pasture and find grass in favored 
spots when it was parched in others. In this poem the au- 
thor shows a minute knowledge of husbandry and also of 
the thrift that rural people know is necessary in order to 
prosper. It is worthy of a New England bard in the early 
days of economy. Here again Vergil is in accord with this 
Hebrew writer of wisdom when he sings of "the watchful 
care our cattle ask, the various art and skill good shepherds 
use, the sage experience which thrifty bees require." ** 

Bee-keeping, too, was not foreign to the Israelites and 
references to it occur in their poetry, even if there is no com- 

42 Haying began in late March or early April, the low lands furnishing two 
crops, while the grass on the uplands was cut between times. These high 
lands also furnished admirable pasturage. 

■43 Toy's translation. 

44 Georgic I. 



54. A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

plete song in its praise. The Song of Solomon refers to 
it several times, for much of the scenery of that dramatic 
collection of lyrics was laid in Solomon's Pleasure Gardens 
near Bethlehem where bee-keeping was a specialty. There 
were many wild bees also which furnished a hungry prophet 
with food and a wedding company with material for riddles. 
Twice does Isaiah use the figure of whistling for the bees 
to assemble.*^ 

This poem in Proverbs in praise of the rural life is a 
late product. It bears the marks of the conscious teacher 
and belongs to a collection of gnomic or wise sayings which 
are known as "Wisdom Literature." It is not folk-poetry 
at all but both of these didactic poems on the farmer's 
life remind us of the customs of primitive folk in singing of 
their work as well as at it. 

BOOKS TO CONSULT 

On Folk-Lore in General 

Fowler, H. T., History of the Literature of Ancient Israel, Ch. 11. 
Gordon, A. R., Poets of the Old Testament, Ch. II. 
Gum MERE, F. B., Old English Ballads, Introduction. 

Beginnings of Poetry. 
Hodges, George, How To Know the Bible, pp. 49-66. 
Houghton, Louise Seymour, Hebrew Life and Thought, Ch. 11. 
Kittredge, G. L., Introduction to Child's Collection of Ballads. 
Phillips, Barry, Folk Music in America, Journal of American 
Folk-Lore, vol. XXII, No. LXXXIII. 

The Origin of Folk-Melodies, same vol. 
Speers, Mary W. F., Negro Songs and Folk-Lore, same Journal, 
vol. XXIII. No. XC. 

The Bible as Literature 

Butcher, S. H., Harvard Lectures on Greek Subjects. Greece and 

Israel, pp. 1-43. 
DoBSCHtJTZ, Ernst von. The Influence of the Bible on Civilization, 

Ch. II, pp. 28-46. 
EcKMAN, G. P., Literary Primacy of the Bible, Chs. I and IV. 
Genung, Franklin, Guide-book to the Biblical Literature, pp. 29-45. 
McCurdy, J. F., History, Prophecy and the Monuments, vol. I, 

pp. 5-8. 
MouLTON, Richard, Short Introduction to the Bible as Literature, 
Introduction, and The Bible as Literature, 

pp. 3-n. 

45 Isaiah s: 26; 7: i8. 



FOLK-LORE 55 

Peake, a. S., The Bible: Its Origin, Significance and Worth, 
Ch. IV. The Bible in the Original Tongues 
and in English. 

Phelps, W. L., Reading the Bible, Ch. I, The Literary Genius of 
the Hebrew People. 

Zangwill, Israel, Chosen Peoples, pp. 33-46, 66-84. 

The Song of the Sword 

Driver, S. R., Westminster Commentary, Genesis. 

Fowler, H. T., History of the Literature of Ancient Israel. 

Gordon, A. R., Poets of the Old Testament. 

ICent, C. F., Students' Old Testament. 

Marti, Karl, Religion of Israel. 

Skinner, John, International Critical Commentary, Genesis. 

The Song of the Well 

Books already mentioned, especially Fowler, Gordon, and Kent, and 
Gray, International Critical Commentary, Numbers. 

Song of Moses and Miriam 

Same and 

Driver, S. R., Cambridge Bible, Exodus. 

Song of Women over David 

Same. 

The Great Day at Gibeon 

Same and 

Genung, Franklin, Guidebook to Biblical Literature. 

A Farmer's Proverb 

DuHM, Bernhard, The Twelve Prophets, translated by Archibald 
Duff. 

Deborah's Song 

Fowler, Gordon, Kent, Genung, 

and especially 

BuRNEY, C. F., The Book of Judges. 

King, E. C, Early Religious Poetry. 

Moulton, R., Literary Study of the Bible. 

Penniman, J. H., A Book About the English Bible. 

Smith, G. S., The Early Poetry of Israel. 

Wild, L. H., Geographic Influences in Old Testament Masterpieces. 



56 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

Isaiah's Parable of the Vineyard 

Gordon, Fowler, Kent, Gray, Wild. 

The Farmer's Song 
Kent, Wild and commentaries. 

In Praise of the Pastoral Life 
Toy, C. H., International Critical Commentary, Proverbs. 

SECTION IV : BIBLICAL RIDDLES 

Riddles are a favorite form of amusement even to-day 
and the childish delight of older people in solving them is a 
sign that they have not grown hopelessly mature and that 
the world is still young at heart. If youth enjoys riddles 
to-day it is quite certain that in the youth of primitive 
societies they were indulged in with great glee; sometimes 
as in the case of Samson's riddle days were spent in solv- 
ing them. Riddles have been immortalized in Greek mythol- 
ogy by the story of OEdipus and the Sphinx, and Plutarch 
has handed down the rumor that Homer died of chagrin 
because he could not solve a certain riddle. 

Riddles, enigmas, conundrums, and puns all belong to the 
same class. They are an expression of humor and of very 
primitive humor. To set people to guessing because of some 
obscure likeness of one thing to another or of one word 
to another is to tickle the fancy and stir up the imagina- 
tion; the fun results in seeing the surprise when the like- 
ness is discerned. The joke is more successful when the 
natural unlikeness of the objects or words is most ap- 
parent. It is not strange that the Hebrews indulged in this 
game, for one of the striking characteristics of their litera- 
ture, as has already been remarked, is their delight in seeing 
contrasts brought very close to each other, the more sud- 
denly and vigorously the better; for example, the wisdom 
of an ant and the foolishness of man. 

In their early history we have the story of a popular 
hero, popular because he could perform wonderful athletic 



FOLK-LORE 57 

feats, so strong were his arms and so vigorous his limbs. 
Tie him with cords and he could break them like string. 
Put out his eyes and while he was bidden to make fun for 
his captors he could feel for the pillars of the porch and 
surprise his audience by pulling the house down on their 
heads. The story of his raid upon the wheat fields of the 
Philistines makes us feel his glee in tying those jackals' 
tails together with a burning torch between. The joke that 
time was a double-headed one, on the jackals as well as on 
the Philistines, and the cruelty of it corresponded with the 
roughness of their wit as well as with the barbarity of life 
of those primitive days. And so, when for lack of a weapon 
he seized the jawbone of an ass that had rotted in the field 
and laid about him with vigor enough to slay a host, it 
pleased him and his tribe immensely to make a pun upon 
words as well as to bring out a contrast between the poor 
ass and his enemies, by singing. 

With the jawbone of an ass 
Have I massed a mass, 
With the jawbone of an ass 
Have I slain a thousand.*® 

Dr. Burney translates this couplet thus to bring out the play 
on the color of the animal — 

With the red ass's jawbone 

I have reddened them right red, 

With the red ass's jawbone 

I have smitten a thousand men. 

or again to show the play on the contrast between ass and 
men — 

With the jawbone of an ass 

I have thoroughly assed them. 

The punning riddle is said to be a late invention in litera- 
ture. That is, when a question is asked and the answer is 
given by an unexpected play on words, such as — 

What wind does a hungry sailor like best? 

One that blows fowl and chops, and then comes in little puffs. 

46 See Gordon's translation. 



58 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

But if this kind is too complex for primitive people we do 
have a great many instances in Hebrew literature of their 
delight in the pun pure and simple, such as the passage in 
Micah 1 : 10 already mentioned — 

Tell it not in Tell-town, 
In Exult-town exult not, 
In Weep-town weep, etc. 

Samson's riddle about the ass also involves the art of 
punning. 

Enigmas or dark sayings we know were often used by 
the ancients to convey very serious portents of the times to 
kings and important people. Among the Babylonians and 
the Egyptians there was a whole class of men set apart as 
especially wise and honored because they were supposed to 
be able to solve such obscure sayings. Of this character 
were the dreams that came to Pharaoh which were put to 
Joseph to solve, and those which Nebuchadrezzar could 
find no one to interpret but Daniel the despised Hebrew.*^ 
These stories indicate that the Hebrews prided themselves 
upon being especially brilliant in such feats of guessing. 

But let us return to the riddles of Samson, which are 
perhaps the most famous in the Bible. He has been called 
by some recent students of his stories "Samson the Sunny'' 
because the name Samson was probably derived from the 
word Shamash, a name for the Sun, or as one scholar 
renders it, "Samson the Sun-man." Unfortunately the bril- 
liancy of his wit outran his wisdom and his joking propen- 
sities got him into trouble, yet his jokes kept things lively 
and he must have been great company at a wedding feast. 
This joyous character of riddles is expressed in the title of 
the first known collection, Demands Joyous, published in 
1511. Samson seems to have responded well, if not always 
wisely, to such demands. He was traveling to his wedding 
on foot and being a naturally curious young man, he turned 
aside at a certain point in his path oter the hills to see 
what had^ become of the carcass of a lion he had slain on 

47 See Genesis 40:9-12, 16-19, Daniel 2. 



FOLK-LORE 59 

one of his courting trips. He found that honeybees had 
taken possession and left enough honey for him to break 
off the honeycomb and carry some to his father and mother 
who were at the feast. As he walked along he thought how 
he could make use of this incident to enliven the company. 
First he aroused their curiosity by putting up a bet of 
"thirty fine linen wrappers and thirty festal garments" that 
they could not guess his riddle, which was promptly ac- 
cepted. "And they said to him, Propose your riddle that 
we may hear it. And he said to them — 

Out of the eater came something to eat, 

And out of the strong came something sweet." *s 

It has been said that this was not a fair riddle because a 
conundrum presupposes that the guessers have a chance to 
know the answer and in this case Samson alone could know 
the secret. Compare with this the famous one of the 
Sphinx— 

What goes on four feet, on two feet, and three. 
But the more feet it goes on the weaker it be? 

or as it is often given^ — 

What animal is it that in the morning goes on four feet, at noon 
on two, and in the evening upon three? 

Every one of course has all the information about this 
phenomenon that any one else has. All it takes is wit to put 
it together. But in the case of Samson's riddle the people 
would never have guessed it if his wife had not wormed it 
out of him. 

Then he made up another couplet — 

If with my heifer you did not plow 
You had not solved my riddle now.** 

When we come to the book of Proverbs we find that the 
riddle, enigma, or conundrum has been adapted to a more 

48 See Moore, G. F., Judges, p. 335 and Students' Old Testament, Begin- 
nings, p. 342. 

49 See Kent and Fowler. 



60 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

artificial use than it served in the early days of spontaneous 
entertainment. Now it has taken its place in "Wisdom 
Literature" as a method of instruction, and youth is sup- 
posed to gain much wisdom from learning these proverbs 
which are easily committed to memory. To make the simi- 
larity to our own conundrums plainer let us state the first 
litres in the form of a question to introduce the proverb of 
this variety. For example — 

Proverbs 30 : 15, 16 

Question — v. 15 

"What four things are never satisfied?" 
Answer — v. 16 

"Sheol ; and the barren womb ; 

The earth that is not satisfied with water; 

And the fire that saith not, Enough." 

Proverbs 30 : 24, 25 

Question — v. 24 

What four things are little but exceeding wise? 

Answer — v. 25 f . 

The ants are a people not strong, 

Yet they provide their food in the summer; 

The conies are but a feeble foil-, 

Yet make they their houses in the rocks ; 

The locusts have no king, 

Yet go they forth all of them by bands, 

The lizard taketh hold with her hands, 

Yet is she in king'- palaces. 

Proverbs Z0:29, 20, Z\ 

Question — v. 29 

What four things are stately in their march? 

Answer — vv. 30, 31 

The lion, which is mightiest among beasts. 

And turneth not away from any ; 

The greyhound; the he-goat also; 

And the king against whom there is no rising up. 

Now compare with these nuggets of wisdom some of our 
own nursery rhymes — 

Black we are but much admired; 
Men seek for us till they are tired, 
We tire the horse, but comfort man ; 
Tell me this riddle if you can. 

Answer — Coals. 



FOLK-LORE 61! 

In Spring I look gay, 

Decked in comely array, 

In Summer more clothing I wear; 

When colder it grows 

I fling off my clothes 

And in winter quite naked appear. 

Answer — A Tree. 

I had a little sister, 

Her name was Pretty Peep; 

She wades in the waters 

Deep, deep, deep! 

She climbs up the mountains 

High, high, high! 

My poor little sister, 

She has but one eye. 

Answer — A Star. 

I went to the wood and got it, 

I sat me down and looked at it; 

The more I looked at it the less I liked it, 

And brought it home because I couldn't help it. 

Answer — A Thorn. 

Riddle — me, riddle — me, riddle-me-ree, 
Perhaps you can tell what this riddle may be! 
As deep as a house, as round as a cup. 
And all the King's horses can't draw it up. 

Answer— A Well. 



These conundrums appeal to us English-speaking people 
because* they are in the form with which we are familiar, 
rhymed verse and a light jingle that seems to suit the gay 
mood of an entertainment. But when the Hebrew riddle 
is translated in metrical form with the play on words 
brought out as nearly as possible and, if necessary, the 
question that is supposed to be answered put as an inter- 
rogation, the similarity with riddles and conundrums in all 
literature is very clear and the fun which breaks out even 
in a collection of sacred literature becomes a revelation of 
the real character of the people. Here undoubtedly we 
come nearest to seeing the people play at their games, a 
side of the life of a race which is a most important one. 



62 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 



BOOKS TO CONSULT 

on 

Riddles 

Fowler, Kent, Moulton, Burney, 
International Critical Commentary, Judges and Proverbs. 



SECTION V : MYTH AND LEGEND 

In this chapter we are still dealing with the very earliest 
forms of literature. Not all of folk-lore was poetry or 
song, although there were certain characteristics common 
both to early poetry and to early story. Both were highly 
imaginative ; there were more or less of the rhythmical ele- 
ments in both. This is so true that it is sometimes hard to 
distinguish between prose and poetry, as in the first chapter 
of Genesis, which has been called *'an epic of creation," 
When we analyze that story we can perceive a very rhyth- 
mical structure, a rhythm that we feel even without analyz- 
ing when the story is read properly. Yet it is really a story 
told in prose form. 

Now the Bible gives us stories of various sorts from the 
very picturesque and altogether imaginative myth down to 
what is known among newspaper writers to-day as "a story." 
There is a vast difference between these two extremes, al- 
though sometimes, alas, newspapers seem to produce "myth- 
ical" stories of events that are supposed to be cold facts. 
The element in common is that they are all tales. But a 
clear distinction must be made between the tales that come 
down to us through mythology, through tradition, and 
through history. Each of these different sorts may be true 
in a certain sense and each may be quite untrue in another 
sense. Even history can give a wrong impression. How- 
ever, there is one common characteristic of a good story; 
it must always delight the imagination. 

Primitive man, as his mind was awakening to all the 
brand new discoveries that were his to make, had a very 
vivid and rich imagination and he did not distinguish care- 



FOLK-LORE 63 

fully, as do we with our trained minds, between fact 
and supposition, or between literal truth and symbolism. 
He had as yet no abstract vocabulary. Everything was con- 
crete to him and the most profound subjects of philosophy 
could only be dealt with by him in concrete terms. It is in- 
deed a question whether our ability to think in abstractions 
brings us any nearer the reality, whether, in other words, 
the real is not always concrete, and whether we do not 
eliminate a very essential element in all living truth when 
we squeeze out of it all the imaginative element that goes 
into the making of a picture. At any rate, primitive peo- 
ples had to make pictures to convey their ideas. They 
were also very curious and constantly asking questions of 
the universe, just as a little child does of his parents in his 
endeavor to discover the meaning of things. As they saw 
all the wonders of creation spread about them they asked 
constantly how they could be and why they were there. 
These questions resulted in attempts at answers that were 
in the form of stories or myths. When they concern the 
making of the world and the universe they are called "cos- 
mological myths," because the cosmos is their theme. 
And they are myths in distinction from other kinds of 
stories because there is no actual fact recorded. There 
may be much truth, however, in any myth, truths of per- 
sonality, of ethical relationships, of religious aspirations. 
Myths reveal the ideals of early peoples, and ideals involve 
the highest reaches of the soul. Not all myths reveal such 
ideals but they may do so and that is why in the creation 
stories of Genesis we find religious truth of a high order, 
although we no longer consider that it is a fact that the 
world was made in six days, as our literal understanding 
and prosaic imagination led us for a long time to suppose. 
Let us be careful then to distinguish between the value of 
fact and of truth, for facts may evade the truth as some 
stories of mere facts in history have done and on the other 
hand a purely imaginative story not based on actual events 
may convey very deep truths. 

A second type of myth or legend is known as "ethnologi- 



64 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

cal." These stories were invented as answers to the ques- 
tions about tribal relations. For example, in the early 
chapters of Genesis the genealogies are an attempt to show 
the origin of tribes and nations in the Mesopotamian and 
Mediterranean regions, known to the writers of the stories 
as existing and doubtless beginning somehow and some- 
where with one family. The prose setting of the *'Song 
of the Sword" (in Genesis 4) is such a myth. Here, how- 
ever, we must make clear the distinction between myth and 
legend. Myth deals with imagination entirely; there are 
no traces of facts in real myths. Legends have come down 
to us through tradition, that is, of course, originally by 
oral transmission, as stories of people and things about 
which there might have been facts to tell and doubtless oncp 
were. Now the stories about the gods are myths pure and 
simple, those that are about men and god-like heroes are 
legends. It has been put this way, "Myth is the creation 
of a fact out of an idea ; legend the seeing an idea in a fact." 
Unfortunately these terms are often used interchangeably, 
myth often meaning purely a fanciful or imaginary tale of 
any sort. 

The third kind of questions asked in early days was con- 
cerning the origin of names and the answers to these ques- 
tions are called "etymological" legends. The story of Ish- 
mael and his wanderings is an example and the story of 
Babel ^° becomes an etymological legend because of the 
attempt to show the derivation of the word Babel. The 
Hebrew word Balal, to confound, sounded so much like 
babel that, confusing the two, the writer jumped at the con- 
clusion that babel, which in the Babylonian tongue means 
"Gate of the Gods," meant to confound. 

Then there are "ceremonial" legends The story of the 
origin of the Passover Feast is a good example, for scholars 
now think that this was a very early festival for offering 
first fruits, a festival taken over from other tribes by the 
Israelites and having its significance attached after the 
Exodus, with imaginative elements added. 

50 Genesis 21 and 11. 



FOLK-LORE 65 

These four kinds of myths or legends are well illustrated 
in the Bible. They are imaginative stories in answer to 
the questions of primitive folk regarding the origin of the 
world or of people or of institutions. 

SECTION VI : MYTH AND LEGEND — EXAMPLES 

The Creation Stories, Cosmological Myths, Genesis 1 : 1- 
2:3. 

We have two accounts of the Creation, this one and the 
one in Gen. 2 : 4b-3 : 24, which is obviously an older form 
because of certain characteristics of style which scholars 
now know belong to the oldest literary source in the Bible. 
These two stories are very interesting examples of myths. 
In reading them we should remember constantly our defini- 
tion of a myth and that there is often more truth in such a 
story than in the record of historical facts. Genesis 1:1- 
2 : 3 has been called "neither myth nor science but poetry, an 
epic of Creation." As it stands it bears many of the char- 
acteristics of poetry, in its imagery, its balance of thought 
and structure, and its repetition of phrases. However, it 
cannot be said to be absolutely poetry as it has come down 
to us, but seems rather to be an old mythical tale worked 
over by a later writer and put into the form in which we 
now read it. It is a prose poem. Of course we must dis- 
abuse our minds entirely of the expectation of finding 
scientific fact here regarding the way in which the world 
was made. The poetical, intuitional mind may have 
stumbled upon scientific fact here and there, but it is indeed 
the tragedy of these wonderful imaginative stories that our 
occidental, matter-of-fact minds have demanded of them 
such a standard of truth. To require that the word trans- 
lated "days" in this tale should be periods of exactly 
twenty-four hours each, rather than a poetical picture, is 
surely doing great injustice not only to the story itself, but 
to our own appreciation of imagery. 

The writer who put this story in its final form is called 
the "priestly" writer because throughout the Old Testa- 



66 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

ment there seems to have been a group of literary people 
telling over the old stories and the history of the people 
according to a certain set style. There are certain words 
which are characteristic of this group, a certain manner 
of expression, and a certain point of view. The point of 
view is the theological one; God is presented in a less 
anthropomorphic picture than in the second story. God 
does not talk and walk with man in quite such a familiar 
manner, as if man were one with Him ; He is farther removed 
as Creator, standing apart, and giving his commands in a 
universal way rather than with specific personal interests. 
As for manner of expression, this writer is more formal, 
systematic, and precise. The entire period of creation num- 
bers six days and these days are divided into two sections 
of three days each; and on the third and sixth days the 
Lord accomplishes two achievements each. There is also 
an orderly progression from "the beginning" when "the 
earth was waste and void" through the separation of day 
and night, of earth from heaven, of the waters from the dry 
land, and the beginning of vegetation on the land, to the 
creation of the sun, moon, and stars, the fishes and birds, 
and all kinds of land animals, and finally to the climax of 
creation — man. Thus there is a scheme of arrangement in 
the Creation itself and these divisions are introduced and 
concluded by certain set phrases, "And God said," "And 
it was so," "And God saw that it was good," "And evening 
came and morning came, a day." As to words peculiar to 
this writer, the one which strikes one at once in the original 
Hebrew as different from that used in the second story is 
the word for God. In this story it is Elohim, in the second 
story it is Yahweh. Yahweh was a more personal, tribal 
appellation which distinguished the god of the Israelites 
from every other god which the tribes round about might 
worship. El is the general name for god and may be found 
in a great many proper names, place names, and personal 
names, such as Beth-el, house of God, and El-kanah, a man\s 
name. Elohim is the plural form of the word and there- 
fore some scholars have thought that in the original ren- 



FOLK-LORE 67 

dering of the tale the story-tellers had not yet gone beyond 
the plural conception of the deity. Others think it is like 
our "editorial we," an honorific plural expressive of dig- 
nity ; an analogy is found in later Hebrew where the word 
for "Lord" is often in the plural.^^ Other words and 
phrases peculiar to this priestly writer are "kind," "to 
swarm," "swarming things," "for food." 

When this story is read aloud its beauty of symmetry and 
rhythm is easily felt. It is indeed more like poetry than 
prose and almost falls into the form of parallelism, the chief 
characteristic of Hebrew poetry. Many of the phrases and 
ideas reappear in later poems.^^ It must have impressed 
those early Israelites very deeply and no wonder, for, aside 
from its poetry, its lofty conception of the creative process 
is so much more dignified and devout than we find in the 
creation stories of other literatures that the religious in- 
spiration of this writer is felt at once. 



The Creation and Temptation, Earliest Story, Genesis 

2:4b-3:24. 

If the first story presents to us "the world of antique 
imagination," the second deserves indeed to be called "one 
of the most charming idylls in literature" and "the pearl of 
Genesis/^ It can be plainly seen that this writer compared 
with the one of the first story is by no means so formal and 
systematic in his arrangement of material and use of 
phrases. He is more naive, not so conscious of his art, but 
has more natural ease and grace of style; in other words, 
is more truly artistic and poetic. He possesses very strik- 
ingly the ability to make a picture vivid, to delineate life 
and character graphically, to put us into sympathy at once 
with human feeling, with the pathos or delicacy of a situa- 
tion. For this purpose he uses dialogue, thus making his 

51 See Driver, Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament, 

52 See Psalms 8:13; 91:1- 65:6-7, Amos 4:13; 5:8; 9:6, Psalm 104, 
"Poem of Creation," cf. v. 9 with Psalm 104: 6-8, Job 38: 8-11; and v. 16 
with Psalm 136: 5-9, Here arises the question as to the date of its final com- 
position and which writer was the borrower, but the original myth was itself 
doubtless very early. 



68 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

story very dramatic. But with all his particular and per- 
sonal interests he shows also a breadth and depth of con- 
ception which is quite uplifting, while with the picturesque- 
ness of detail goes a flowing style which is truly charming. 
This is an example of the most spontaneous, original writ- 
ing we have in the Bible. The simplicity is childlike, but the 
reach in profundity of religious and moral feeling is won- 
derful. It is plain that this is a myth. The story tries to 
trace back to the beginning the ordinary phenomena of life 
so common and yet so puzzling, to explain the why of 
things, the distinction of sex, the institution of marriage, 
the presence of sin in the world, the custom of wearing 
clothes, the gait and habits of the serpent, the subject con- 
dition of woman to man, the pain of child-bearing, the tire- 
. someness of agriculture. The writer handles the sex ques- 
tion very delicately, at least as compared with other oriental 
writers. He shows a profound psychology in the treatment 
of temptation, the rise of conscience, and the serious view 
he takes of sin. He represents God in a very anthropo- 
morphic fashion; Yahweh "moulds" and "breathes" and 
"plants" and "takes" and "brings" and "closes up" and 
"walks." He makes Paradise an ideal place somewhere 
east of Palestine and Babylonia.^^ But with all its pic- 
turesqueness there is a striking lack of the superstitious ele- 
ments found in other creation myths. 

The balance and poetic rhythm are brought out in the fol- 
lowing translation of certain sections. 

Genesis 2 : 23, 

Then said the man, 

This, now, is bone of my bone 
And flesh of my flesh. 
This one shall be called woman 
For from man was she taken.^* 

53 The derivation of the name Eden is probably not from the Hebrew since 
it is identical with Babylonian inscriptions, meaning field or plain. However, 
the word for fig-tree is not Babylonian; therefore, it seems that an early 
Babylonian story has been made over by the Hebrew writer. 

54 Here is shown the Hebrew love for a play on words. The name for 
woman is ishsha and for man is ish. Therefore she is called ishsha because 
taken from ish. However, scholars now know that this is a false derivation, 
for the two words have different roots and are therefore not etymologically 
related. For arrangement of the verse see Student's Old Testament. 



FOLK-LORE 69 

Genesis 3 : 14 flf. 

Cursed s.halt thou be above all animals, 

And above all the beasts of the field. 

On thy belly shalt thou go, 

And dust shalt thou eat, 

All the days of thy life. 

Enmity will I set between thee and the woman" 

And between thy offspring and her offspring. 

He shall bruise thee on the head, 

And thou shalt wound him on the heel. 

To the woman he said, 

I will make thy pain great in thy pregnancy, 
With pain shalt thou bring forth children. 
Yet toward thy husband shall be thy desire, 
And he shall rule over thee. 

Cursed shall be the ground because of thee. 

By painful toil shalt thou eat from it all the days of thy life. 

Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth for thee, 

And thou shalt eat the herb of the field. 

By the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat bread. 

Until thou return to the ground, 

Because from it thou wast taken; 

For dust thou art, 

And to dust shalt thou return.^s , 

To appreciate the excellencies of these Biblical myths they 
should be compared with those of other races and litera- 
tures. 

CREATION STORIES FROM OTHER 
LITERATURES AND RACES 

There are many such stories belonging to different ages 
the world over, some showing traces of connection in one 
way or another with the Biblical stories, but others evi- 
dently quite original. We give here a few of the briefer 
ones showing their wide range all over the world. 

A Babylonian Creation Story ^^ 

A holy house, a house of the gods, in a holy place had not been 
made; 

55 See arrangement in Student's Old Testament. 

56 This is the shorter and the older of the Babylonian stories of creation; 
the translation is Dr. George Barton's. See Barton's Archeology and the Bible 
for a translation of the great Babylonian Creation epic; also for both these 
poems see Student's Old Testament, Beginnings of Hebrew History; appendix 
3. Extracts are given also in Skinner's Genesis. 



70 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

No reed had sprung up, no tree had been created, 
No brick had been made, no foundation had been built, 
No house had been constructed, no city had been built ; 
No city had been built, thrones had not been estabhshed; 
Nippur 57 had not been constructed, Ekur ^7 had not been built; 
Erech^T had not been constructed, Eanna^T had not been built; 
The deep had not been formed, Eridu^^ had not been built; 
The holy house, the house of the gods, the dwelling had not been 

made, — 
All lands were sea, — 

Then in the midst of the sea was a water-course ; 
In those days Eridu was constructed, Esagila was built, 
Esagila where, in the midst of the deep, the god Lugal-dul-azaga 

abode, 
Babylon was made, Esagila was completed. 
The gods and the Anunaki^s he made at one time. 
The holy city, the dwelling of their hearts' desire, they named as 

first 
Marduk bound a structure of reeds upon the face of the waters, 
He formed dust, he poured it out beside the reed-structure ; 
To cause the gods to dwell in the habitation of their hearts' desire, 
He formed mankind. 

The goddess Aruru with him created mankind, 
Cattle of the field, in whom is breath of life, he created. _ 
He formed the Tigris and Euphrates and set them in their places, 
Their names he did well declare. 

The grass, marsh-grass, the reed and brush-wood he created. 
The green grass of the field he created, 
The land, the marshes, and the swamps ; 
The wild cow and her young, the wild calf; the ewe and her 

young, the lamb of the fold; 
Gardens and forests ; 

The wild goat, the mountain goat, who cares for himself. 
The lord Marduk ^^ filled a terrace by the seaside. 
Reeds he created; trees he created; 
Bricks he laid, a foundation he constructed. 
Houses he made, a city he built; 
A city he built, a throne he established; 
Nippur he constructed, Ekur he built; 
Erech he constructed, Eanna he built. 

Extract from An Egyptian Hymn of Creation ®® 

The Master of Everything saith after his forming: 
"I am he who was formed as Khepri. 

57 These are the names of Babylonian cities 

58 The Anunaki were the strong gods. (See Jastrow, Morris, Religion of 
Babylonia and Assyria.) 

59 The great god of Babylon. 

60 This was written on papyrus about 310 b. c. but seems to go back to 
originals which were much earlier. This translation and that of the next 
example is taken from Mythology of all Races, Vol. 12, Egyptian, W. Max 
Miiller. 



FOLK-LORE 71 

When I had formed, then only the forms were formed. 
All the forms were formed after my forming. 
Numerous are the forms from that which proceeded from my 
mouth. 

The heaven had not been formed, 
The earth had not been formed, 
The ground had not been created 
For the reptiles in that place. 

I raised myself among them in the abyss, out of its inertness. 

When I did not find a place where I could stand, 

I thought wisely in my heart, 

I founded in my soul, 

I made all forms, I alone," 

The Sun God and the Serpent 

Chapter of the divine god who arose by himself, 

Who made the heaven, the earth, the air of life, and the fire, 

The gods, the men, the wild animals, and the flocks, 

The reptiles, the birds, and the fish, 

The king of men and of gods together. 

Whose ages are more than human years, 

Rich in names which people here know not, 

Neither do those yonder know. 

At that time there was Isis, a woman 

Skillful in sorcery, whose heart was tired 

Of living forever among men; 

She preferred time forever among the gods ; 

She esteemed more highly living forever among the illuminated 

spirits. 
Was she not able to be in heaven and on earth like Re, 
To become mistress of the land of gods? 
So she thought in her heart 
To learn the name of the holy god. 

Now Re came every day 
At the head of his followers, 
Established on the throne of both horizons. 
The god had grown old; his mouth dripped, 
His spittle flowed to the earth. 
His saliva fell on the ground. 

Isis kneaded this with her hand, 
Together with the earth on which it was, 
She formed it as a holy serpent; 
She made it in the form of a dart. 
It did not wander alive before her; 
She left it rolled together on the way 
On which the great god wandered 



72 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

At his heart's desire over his two countries. 

The holy god — life, welfare, health to him — appeared from his 

palace, 
The gods behind following him. 
He walked as every day, 
Then the holy snake bit him. 

The holy god opened his mouth, 
The voice of his Majesty — life, welfare, health to him — reached 

heaven. 
His circle of gods said, "What is it?" 
His gods said, "What is the matter?" 
He found not a word to answer to this question. 
His jaws trembled. 
All his limbs shook. 
The poison took possession of his flesh 
As the Nile takes possession of the land, spreading over it. 
The great god concentrated all his will-power, 
He cried to his followers : 

"Come to me, ye who have arisen from my members, 
Ye gods who have come forth from me, 
That I may inform you what hath happened 1 
Something painful hath pierced me 
Which my heart had not noticed. 
And mine eyes had not seen, 
Which my hand hath not made. 
I know not who hath done all this, 
I have not ever tasted such suffering; 
No pain is stronger than this. 
I am the prince, the son of a prince. 
The issue of a god which became a god; 
I am the great one, the son of a great one. 
My father hath thought out my name; 
I am one with many names, with many forms. 
My form is in every god, 
I am called Atumu and Har-hekunu. 

My father and my mother however told me my real name; 

It hath been hidden within me since my birth 

In order that power and magic force 

May not arise for one who may desire to bewitch me. 

The great god, his name was betrayed to Isis, great in magic. 
Leave, O spell; come forth from Re! 

The Norse Creation Story ^^ 

It was Time's morning. 
When Ymer lived; 
There was no sand, no sea, 
No cooling billows; 
61 Translation by R. B. Anderson. 



FOLK-LORE 73 

Earth there was none, 
No lofty heaven, 
Only Ginungagap,®2 
But no grass. 

From Ymer's flesh ^^ 

The earth was formed, 

And from his bones the hills, 

The heaven from the skull of that ice-cold giant, 

And from his blood the sea. 

The sun knew not 
His proper sphere; 
The stars knew not 
Their proper place ; 
The moon knew not 
Where her position was. 
There was nowhere grass 
Until Bor's sons ^^ 
The expanse did raise, 
By whom the great 
Midgard was made.®^ 

From the south the sun 
Shone on the walls; 
Then did the earth 
Green herbs produce. 
The moon went ahead 
The sun followed, 
His right hand held 
The steeds of heaven. 



A Melanesian Legend ^^ 

The hero Qat molded men of clay from the marshy riverside. 
At first he made men and pigs just alike, but his brothers remon- 
strated with him, so he beat down the pigs to go on all fours and 
made man walk upright. Qat fashioned the first woman out of 
supple twigs, and when she smiled he knew she was a living woman. 

62 The yawning abyss between the nebulous world (Niflheim) and the world 
of fire (Muspelheim). 

63 Ymer was a giant. 

64 They were Odin, Vile, and Ve, the rulers of heaven. 

65 A bulwark raised against turbulent giants, Ymer's eyebrows were em- 
ployed in its structure. This by soone is supposed to correspond to the Tower 
of Babel. 

66 The following stories are taken from Frazer's Folklore in the Old Testa- 
ment, which is a mine of information concerning folk legends of all sorts in 
comparative literature. 



74 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 



A Story from the Dyaks of Borneo 

A certain god named Salampandai is the maker of men. He 
hammers them into shape out of clay, thus forming the bodies of 
children who are to be born into the world. There is an insect 
which makes a curious clinking noise at night, and when the Dyaks 
hear it they say that it is the clink of Salampandai's hammer at his 
work. He was commanded by the gods to make a man, and he 
made one of stone; but the figure could not speak and was there- 
fore rejected. So he set to work again, and made a man of iron; 
but neither could he speak, so the gods would have none of him. 
The third time Salampandai made a man of clay, and he had the 
power of speech. Therefore the gods were pleased and said, "The 
man you have made will do well. Let him be the ancestor of the 
human race, and you must make others like him." So Salampandai 
set about fashioning human beings, and he is still fashioning them 
at his anvil, working away at his tools in unseen regions. There 
he hammers out the clay babies, and when one of them is finished 
he brings it to the gods, who ask the infant, "What would you like 
to handle and use?" If the child answers, "A sword," the gods 
pronounce it a male; but if the child repHes, "Cotton and a spin- 
ning wheel," they pronounce it a female. Thus they are born boys 
or girls according to their own wishes. 

Compare with this Bliss Carman's poem, Hack and Hew.^'^ 



A Story of the Philippine Islands 

In the beginning four beings, two male and two female, lived 
on a small island no bigger than a hat. Neither trees nor grass 
grew on the island, but one bird lived on it. So the four beings 
sent the bird to fetch some earth, the fruit of the rattan, and the 
fruit of the trees. When it brought the articles, Melu, who was 
one of the two male beings, took the earth and molded it into land, 
just as a woman molds pots; and having fashioned it he planted 
the seeds in it, and they grew. But after a time he said, "Of what 
use is land without people?" The others said, "Let us make wax 
into people." They did so, but when the waxen figures were set 
.near the fire they melted. So the Creators perceived that they 
could not make man out of wax. Not to be baffled, they resolved 
to make him out of dirt, and the two male beings accordingly 
addressed themselves to the task. All went well till it came to 
fashioning the noses. The Creator who was charged with this 
operation put the noses on upside down, and though his colleague 
Melu pointed out his mistake, and warned him that the people 
would be drowned if they went about with their noses in that posi- 
tion, he refused to repair his blunder and turned his back in a huff. 



67 To be found in A Victorian Anthology, Stedman. 



FOLK-LORE 75 

His colleague seized the opportunity and the noses at the same 
instant and hastily adjusted these portions of the human frame in 
the position which they still occupy. But on the bridge of the nose 
you can see to this day the print left by the Creator's fingers in 
his hurry. 

A Story of the Kumis of Eastern India 

God made the world and the trees and the creeping things first, 
and after that he made one man and one woman, forming their 
bodies of clay; but every night, when he had done his work, there 
came a great snake, which, while God was sleeping, devoured the 
two images. This happened twice or thrice, and God was at his 
wits' end, for he had to work all day and could not finish the pair 
in less than twelve hours ; besides, if he did not sleep he would be 
no good. But at last he got up early one morning and first made 
a dog and put life into it ; and that night when he had finished the 
images, he set the dog to watch them, and when the snake came, 
the dog barked and frightened it away. That is why to this day, 
when a man is dying, the dogs begin to howl ; but the_ Kumis think 
that God sleeps heavily nowadays, or that the snake is bolder, for 
men die in spite of the howlmg of the dogs. 

As one reads over these stories it must be apparent that 
those from the Bible are quite as poetic in style as any, if 
not more so, and that in moral and religious tone they far 
exceed those of any other peoples. The purely fanciful and 
superstitious character of many of them is comparable to 
the miraculous tales of the apocryphal books, such as 
Pseudo-Matthew, for example, when set side by side with 
the miracles of the New Testament. It is interesting also 
to notice how the problem of evil is treated and how the 
serpent figures in so many of the stories. Note the Tree 
of Life which was represented on the Babylonian tablets 
and the following extract from the Egyptians' sacred book. 

From the Book of the Dead 

Back, creeper that art obliged to recede, form of Apep. Thou 
art submerged in the basin of the Nu, at the place directed by thy 
father, in order to be hit there. Go away from Re's reviving place. 
Tremble. I am Re. Tremble. Back ! Thy venom is destroyed. 
Re throws thee down, the gods throw thee down. Thy heart is 
torn out by the lynx, thou art chained by the scorpion; thy wound 
is prescribed by the Truth. 



76 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

In the Greek story of Heracles and the Golden Apples 
the Hebrew idea is completely inverted, for Heracles comes 
off victorious over the serpent that guards the apples rather 
than the serpent causing his ruin. 

The Flood Story, Another Cosmological Myth, Genesis 

6:9-9:17. 

Here again we have a story so closely allied to Babylonian 
literature that we cannot fail to remark upon its resemblance 
and to be quite sure that the writer knew of the earHer 
Babylonian flood story. It shows even a more striking 
resemblance in certain parts than is shown by the creation 
myths. Moreover, here again in all sections of the world, 
among very widely scattered peoples, we find the tradition 
of a flood. Geologists tell us that there were many floods 
over the earth at various periods of geologic history, that 
land would appear and then be submerged again as the 
planet was getting settled into its present arrangement of 
continents and water. As men experienced such a sub- 
mergence of the entire territory known to them it seemed 
to them an affair that covered the whole earth. And so 
from Babylonia to North America we have such legends. 
The Hebrew version bears its own stamp. Some of the 
details are similar to other literatures but the objectionable, 
superstitious elements are omitted and a highly ethical and 
rehgious truth finds expression in their place. The entire 
story becomes symbolical of spiritual relationships with an 
ethical deity. After the flood the gods do not stand 
like flies around the incense man is offering up and quarrel 
among themselves, but a God worthy of our reverence sets 
a rainbow in the skies to remind men of his eternal cov- 
enant with them as Creator and ruler of heaven and earth. 
Moreover, man must be in harmony with such a pure and 
holy God if he expects to stay alive. God is not leveled 
down to man's corrupt nature but man is summoned to leave 
his low thoughts and commune with a holy deity. The 
Hebrews were among the finest and most sensitive Nature 
lovers we find in history. It is well to compare this flood 



FOLK-LORE 77, 

story, partly poetry and partly prose and much mixed as to 
literary composition in its present form, with the later com- 
plete poem on a thunder storm, and with the Arabic classic 
on the storm.^^ 

It is an interesting study to pick out the two strands of 
composition in the story as we have it in the Bible. Evi- 
dently the same two writers who produced the different 
versions of the creation myth tried their hands at this, 
while a later editor instead of leaving them separate thought 
best to weave them together. The inconsistencies are thus 
accounted for. The earlier writer says one pair of the 
unclean animals and seven pairs of the clean animals were 
taken into the ark, while the later one says there was one 
pair of each. The earlier writer makes the duration of the 
flood much shorter than the later one. Moreover, there 
are the same characteristic words in different verses and 
phrases, sometimes Elohim is used for God, sometimes 
Yahweh; when one writer speaks in a very dignified style 
of destroying mankind, the other uses the more picturesque 
verb "to wipe out." Yahweh also puts a cover on the ark 
and shuts Noah in and smells the roasting of the sacrifice 
in a very anthropomorphic manner, whereas the orderly, 
systematic priestly writer enters into very specific details 
about the measurements of the ark, the kind of animals, the 
members of Noah's family, and even dates, which it would 
be difficult for the wisest of historians to verify. 

Following is a rendering of one verse, a nature poem, 
which because of its poetical style is thought to be a rem- 
nant of a very early tradition, quite accurately remembered 
by the writer on account of its rhythm. 

Genesis 8 : 22. 

While the earth remains. 
Seedtime and harvest, 
Cold and heat, 
Summer and winter, 
Shall not cease. 

68 See Wild, L. H., Geographic Iniiuences in Old Testament Masterpieces, p. 
8o ff. and p. 177 of this book. 



78 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

FLOOD STORIES FROM OTHER LITERATURES 
AND RACES 

The Gilgamesh Epic of Babylonia 

This interesting epic is rather long: for the full text the 
reader is referred to Barton's Archaeology and the Bible 
or Kent's Student's Old Testament. Extracts are given 
here which show striking similarity and contrast to the 
Bible story. 

1 will reveal to thee, Gilgamesh, something hidden, 

And the secret of the gods I will tell thee. 

Shurippak, a city thou knowest, 

Lies on the banks of the Euphrates. 

That city was already old, when the gods thereof 

Resolved to bring a flood, even the great gods, 

Among them their father Anu, 

Their counsellor, the warrior Bel, 

Their herald Ninib, 

Their leader Ennugi. 

Ea, the lord of wisdom, was with them. 

And to the reed-hut proclaimed their resolve: 

Reed-hut, reed-hut ! house-wall, house-wall ! ^s* 

Reed-hut, hearl house-wall, give heed! 

Man of Shurippak, son of Urabu-Tutu, 

Construct a house, build a ship. 

Leave goods, look after life. 

Forsake possessions, and save life! 

Cause all kinds of living things to go up into the ship. 

The ship which thou shalt build, — 

Exact shall be its dimensions : 

Its breadth shall equal its length. 

On the great deep launch it." 

On the fifth day I traced out its form. 

According to the plan its sides were one hundred and twenty cubits 

high, 
The border of its roof was one hundred and twenty cubits on every 

side. 
I traced out its form, I marked it off, 
I built it in six stories 
I divided it into seven parts ; 
Its interior I divided into nine parts, 

68a Representing the habitations of men. 



FOLK-LORE 79 

Plugs to keep out the water I drove in from within, 

I provided a rudder-pole and supplied what was necessary; 

Six sars of pitch I poured over the outside, 

Three sars of bitumen I poured over the inside. 

All which I possessed I loaded on it, 

All the silver I had I loaded on it, 

All the gold I had I loaded on it, 

All the living creatures of all kinds I loaded on it, 

I brought on board my family and household; 

Cattle of the field, beasts of the field, craftsmen all of them I 
brought on board. 

A time had Shamash appointed saying, 

"When the lord of darkness at evening shall send down a destruc- 
tive rain, 

Then enter within the ship and close the door." 

When that time came, 

The lord of darkness at evening sent down a destructive rain ; 

I saw the beginning of the storm, 

I was afraid to look upon the storm, 

I entered into the ship and closed the door. 

To the captain of the ship, to Puzur-Shadurabu, the sailor, 

I entrusted the great house, with its contents. 

When the first light of dawn shone forth. 

There rose from the horizon a dark cloud, within which Adad 

thundered, 
Nabu and Marduk marched at the front, 
The heralds passed over mountains and land; 
Negal tore out the ship's mast, 
Ninib advanced, following up the attack. 
The spirits of earth raised torches. 
With sheen they lighted up the world, 
Adad's tempest reached to heaven. 
And all light was changed to darkness. 

For six days and nights 

Wind, flood, and storm overwhelmed the land, 

But when the seventh day arrived there was an abatement of the 

storm, the flood, and the tempest. 
Which like a host had contended; 
The sea became calm, the tempestuous wind was still, the flood 

ceased. 

Then I looked for the race of mortals, but every voice was hushed, 

And all mankind had been turned to clay. 

As soon as the light of day appeared, I prayed, 

I opened a hole so as to let the light fall upon my cheeks, 

I bowed down and sat there weeping. 

Tears flowed down my cheeks. 



80 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

I looked in all directions toward the border of the sea; 

After twenty-four hours an island rose up, 

The ship approached the mountain Nasir, 

The mountain Nasir caught the ship and held it fast, 

So also during the five succeeding days it held the ship fast. 



Then the seventh day arrived, 

I sent forth a dove and let it loose, 

The dove went forth but came back; _^. 

Because it found no resting-place, it returned. 

Then I sent forth a swallow, but it came back; 

Because it found no resting-place, it returned. 

Then I sent forth a raven and let it loose. 

The raven went forth and saw that the waters had decreased; 

It fed, it waded, it croaked, but did not return. 



Then I sent forth everything in all directions, and offered a sacrifice ; 
I made an offering of incense on the highest peak of the mountain. 
Seven and seven bowls I placed there. 
And over them I poured out calamus, cedarwood and fragrant 

herbs. 
The gods inhaled the odor. 
The gods inhaled the sweet odor. 
The gods gathered like flies above the sacrifice. 



The Greek Story of Deucalion 

Deucalion was the son of Prometheus. He reigned as king in the 
country about Phthia and married Pyrrha, the daughter of Epime- 
theus and Pandora, the first woman fashioned by the gods. But 
when Zeus wished to destroy the men of the Bronze Age, Deucalion 
by the advice of Prometheus constructed a chest or ark, and having 
stored in it what was needful, he entered into it with his wife. But 
Zeus poured a great rain from the sky upon the earth and washed 
down the greater part of Greece, so that all men perished except 
a few, who flocked to the high mountains near. Then the mountains 
in Thessaly were parted, and all the world beyond the isthmus and 
Peloponnese was overwhelmed. But Deucalion in the ark, floating 
over the sea for nine days and as many nights, grounded on Par- 
nassus, and there, when the rain ceased, he disembarked and sac- 
rificed to Zeus, the God of Escape. And Zeus sent Hermes to him 
and allowed him to choose what he would, and he chose men. And 
at the bidding of Zeus he picked up stones and threw them over his 
head; and the stones which Deucalion threw became men, and the 
stones which Pyrrha threw became women. That is why in Greek 
people are called laoi from laas "a stone." «9 

69 Appollodorus, Bibliotheca, i. 7. 2. 



FOLK-LORE 81 



A Story from the Sanscrit Literature of India 



70 



In the morning they brought to Manu water for washing, just 
as now also they are wont to bring water for washing the hands. 
When he was washing himself, a fish came into his hands. It spake 
to him the word, "Rear me, I will save thee!" "Wherefrom wilt 
thou save me ?" "A flood will carry away all these creatures ; from 
that will I save thee!'* "How am I to rear thee?" It said, "As 
long as we are small, there is great destruction for us ; fish devours 
fish. Thou wilt first keep me in a jar. When I outgrow that, thou 
wilt dig a pit and keep me in it. When I outgrow that, thou wilt 
take me down to the sea, for then I shall be beyond destruction." 
It soon became a ghasha (a large fish) ; for that grows largest of 
all fish. Thereupon it said, "In such and such a year that flood will 
come. Thou shalt then attend to me by preparing a ship ; and when 
the flood has risen thou shalt enter into the ship, and I will save 
thee from it." 

After he had reared it in this way, he took it down to the sea. 
And in the same year which the fish had indicated to him, he at- 
tended to the advice of the fish by preparing a ship; and when the 
flood had risen, he entered into the ship. The fish then swam up 
to him, and to its horn he tied the rope of the ship, and by that 
means he passed swiftly up to yonder northern mountains. It then 
said, "I have saved thee. Fasten the ship to a tree ; but let not the 
water cut thee off, whilst thou art on the mountain. As the water 
subsides, thou mayest gradually descend I" Accordingly he gradually 
descended, and hence that slope of the northern mountain is called 
"Manu's Descent." The flood then swept away all these creatures 
and Manu alone remained here. 



A Story of Burma 

The earth was of old deluged with water, and two brothers saved 
themselves from the flood on a raft. The waters rose till they 
reached to heaven, when the younger brother saw a mango-tree 
hanging down from the celestial vault. With great presence of 
mind he clambered up it and ate of the fruit, but the flood, sud- 
denly subsiding, left him suspended in the tree. 



A Story of Cochin China 

Once on a time the kite quarreled with the crab, and pecked the 
crab's skull so hard that he made a hole in it, which may be seen 

70 This is taken from the Sata patha Brahmana supposed to have been writ- 
ten not later than the sixth century B. C. See Frazer, Folklore in the Bible. 



82 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

down to this very day. To avenge this injury to his skull, the crab 
caused the sea and the rivers to swell till the waters reached the 
sky, and all living things perished except two, a brother and a 
sister, who were saved in a huge chest. They took with them into 
the chest a pair of every sort of animal, shut the lid tight, and 
floated on the waters for seven days and seven nights. Then the 
brother heard a cock crowing outside, for the bird had been sent 
by the spirits to let our ancestors know that the flood had abated 
and that they could come forth from the chest. So the brother let 
all the birds fly away; then he let loose the animals, and last of all 
he and his sister walked out on the dry land. They did not know 
how they were to live, for they had eaten up all the rice that was 
stored in the chest. However a black cat brought them two grains 
of rice: the brother planted them, and next morning the plain was 
covered with a rich crop. So the brother and the sister were saved. 

A Polynesian Myth 

Tawhaki's mother is recorded to have wept at the actions of her 
son, her tears falling to earth and flooding it, thus overwhelming all 
men.'^i 

A Story from the Cook Islands "^^ 

Originally the heavens were low, so low that they rested on the 
broad leaves of certain plants, and in this narrow space all the 
people of this world were shut up, but Ru sent for the gods of 
night and the gods of day to assist him in his work of raising the 
sky. He prayed to them, "Come, all of you, and help me to lift up 
the heavens." And when they came in answer to his call, he 
chanted the following song: 

"O Son! O Son! Raise my son! 
Raise my son 1 

Lift the universe ! Lift the Heavens I 
The Heavens are lifted. 
It is moving! 
It moves, 
It moves!" 

The heavens were raised accordingly, and Ru then chanted the fol- 
lowing song to secure the heavenj in their place : 

" Come, O Ru-taki-nuhu, 
Who has propped up the Heavens. 
The heavens were fast, but are lifted. 
The heavens were fast, but are lifted. 
Our work is completed." 

71 The last four stories may be found in Frazer, Folklore in the Bible. 

72 From the Mythology of All Races. Oceanic Mythology-. 



FOLK-LORE 83 

The conception of propping up the sky is found in many 
of the Pacific Islands as well as in the stories of primitive 
America/^* 



A Story from the Indians of British Columbia 

The Bella Coola Indians of British Columbia tell a different tale. 
They say that the great Masmasalanich, who made men, fastened 
the earth to the sun by a long rope in order to keep the two at a 
proper distance from each other and to prevent the earth from 
falling into the sea. But one da - he began to stretch the rope, and 
the consequence naturally was that the earth sank deeper and 
deeper, and the water rose higher and higher, till it had covered the 
whole earth and even the tops of the mountains. A terrible storm 
broke out at the same time, and many men, who had sought safety 
in boats were drowned, while others were driven far away. At 
last Masmasalanich hauled in the rope, the earth rose from the 
waves, and mankind spread over it once more. It was then that 
the diversity of tongues arose, for before the flood all men had 
been of one speech.'^^ 

The people of northern climes sometimes pictured a flood 
of snow rather than of rain. 



A Myth of Scandinavia ^* 

Before the Sun and the Moon were devoured and before the gods 
were destroyed, terrible things happened in the world. Snow fell 
on the four corners of the earth and kept on falling for three sea- 
sons. Winds came and blew everything away. And the people of 
the world who had lived on in spite of the snow and the cold and 
the winds fought each other, brother killing brother, until all the 
people were destroyed. Then fire came and burnt the earth. Then 
a new Sun and a new Moon appeared and went travelling through 
the heavens, and the earth became green and beautiful again, and in 
a deep forest that the fire had not burnt, a woman and a man 
wakened up. They moved through the world, and their children 
and their children's children made people for the new earth. 

Ethnological Myths 

In the fourth and fifth chapters of Genesis we have very 
excellent examples of ethnological rather than cosmological 

72a See Jeremiah Curtin's Creation Myths of Primitive America, p. igff. 

73 See Frazer, Folklore in the Bible. 

74 See Colum, The Children of Odin, ■ 



84 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

myths. In the fourth chapter there is an attempt to ex- 
plain by stories how different tribes of men came to special- 
ize in different occupations. There were to be found, when 
this writer came upon the scene of action, men who fol- 
lowed the pastoral life exclusively and also those who were 
given to agricultural pursuits. It was also known that 
following the flocks was the earliest way in which man 
gained his living. There was more or less enmity between 
these two groups, for the roving shepherd had not enough 
regard for the fields of the farmer to keep his sheep off the 
land which his brother had preempted for his special uses ; 
he asked why his brother should have selected the best por- 
tion of the country and claimed it as his own, fighting off 
intruders as if that piece of land belonged to him by divine 
right. Here is the old, old struggle, not settled yet, con- 
cerning the divine right of the landholder. No "single- 
taxer" with a well-thought-out philosophy had arisen to ex- 
plain it and to show up the injustices of the condition ; but 
the respective neighbors, the shepherd and the tiller of the 
ground, quarreled incessantly and some gifted story-teller 
attempted to show why, and to show that, although the 
agriculturist was hated, yet after all he also was under 
divine protection, was indeed a part of the divine order of 
things. Thus we have the story of Cain and Abel. We 
have noted already that the last part of the chapter attempts 
to explain how artisans appeared, the forgers of brass and 
iron, and the origin of musicians. 

The fifth chapter traces back the beginning of tribes to 
some one family, one ancestor who stood for the whole 
tribe. The extreme age of Methuselah is thus explained 
as a long period of tribal history. Evidently that family 
was known to have been roaming about the region much 
longer than some of the others. The tenth chapter does 
the same thing with larger groups and the interesting 
point there is that those names can many of them be identi- 
fied with the names of places around the Mediterranean 
and Mesopotamian territory. Elam, for example, is called 
a son of Shem, and we know it stood for a definite territory 



FOLK-LORE 85 

in Persia where a certain division of the human family 
became dominant. Asshur stood for the Assyrians, Lud 
for the district in northern Egypt known later as Lydia. 
Aram figured very largely in later Biblical history as Ara- 
mea, and we have all heard of the gold of Ophir which 
came from the southern part of the Arabian peninsula. 
Javan was a part of Greece, Tarshish was in Spain, Kittim 
was the island of Cyprus, and the Cushites were what we 
now know as the Ethiopians. 



Cain and Abel, Genesis 4: 1-15. 

Most scholars think that the name Cain is to be identi- 
fied with the Kenites, a very important tribe uniting with 
the Israelites when they came to take possession finally of 
the land of Palestine. Here again the writer's attempt at 
ethnology was quite faulty, for in the first verse the name 
Cain is assumed to be derived from the Hebrew word 
kanah,''^ to get, but scholars know that the roots are not 
the same, any more than that Moses came from the Hebrew 
word mdshdh'^^ — meaning to drazv out. It sounded well 
and the writer liked the assonance in telling his story. 

The following poetical rendering of verses 6 and 7 will 
show more perfectly the character of the original com- 
position. 

Why art thou angry? 

And why is thy countenance fallen? 

If thou doest well, 

Is there not acceptance? 

But if thou doest not well, 

Dost not sin crouch at the door? 

And to thee shall be its desire, 

But thou shouldst rule over it.'^''' 

The Hebrew story compared with other stories of this 
sort points a decided moral lesson in bringing to light the 

75 See marginal reading, 
78 See Exodus 2: 10, marginal reading. 

77 See Student's Old Testament for this arrangement. See Frazer, Folh 
Lore in the Old Testament, for comparative literature. 



86 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

fact that men do have responsibilities as keepers of their 
brethren notwithstanding tribal and racial antagonisms. 



Suggested Study 

Analyze carefully the Creation and Flood stories, writing 
out the exact ethical conceptions there presented of God as 
creator, as punisher of sin, of the character of sin, of the 
reason for suffering. Compare with Milton's idea of the 
Fall of Man in Paradise Lost. Did Milton get his ideas 
from the Bible? Are our ideas based upon those found in 
Milton or upon the Bible ? 

Analyze the Cain and Abel story with the same questions 
in mind as to ethical teaching. 

BOOKS TO CONSULT 

Myths in General 

Genung, Guidebook to the Biblical Literature, pp. 114-119. 

GuNKLE, Hermann, The Legends of Genesis. 

Hartland, E. S., The Science of Fairy Tales, Ch. i. The Art of 

Story Telling. 
Skinner, Genesis, Introduction pp. iii-xiv. 

The Biblical Stories 

Brightman, Edgar S., The Sources of the Hexateuch. 

Driver, Genesis. 

GuNKEL, Hermann, The Legends of Genesis. 

Kent, Student's Old Testament, Beginnings of Hebrew History, 

Introduction. 
Mitchell, H. G, The Bible for Home and School, Genesis. Intro- 
duction ana Commentary. 
Penniman, J. H., A Book About the English Bible, pp. 84-85. 
Ryle, H. E., Cambridge Bible, Genesis, Introduction and Commen- 
tary. 
Skinner, Genesis. 
Wild, L. H., The Evolution of the Hebrew People, Ch. XVIII, The 

Record of Israel's Development. 

Comparative Mythology 

Anderson, R. B., Norse Mythology. 

CoLUM, P., The Children's Book of Northern Myfhs. 



FOLK-LORE 87 

CuRTiN, Jeremiah, Creation Myths of Primitive America. 

Frazer, J. G., Folk Lore in the Old Testament. 

GuERBER, H. A., Myths of Northern Lands. 

Mabie, Hamilton, Norse Stories. 

Morten SEN, Karl, Norse Mythology, 

Mythology of all races. 

Egyptian, Muller, W. Max. 

Greek and Roman, Fox, W. S. 

OceaniCf Dixon, R. B. 



Chapter III 
STORY TELLING 

SECTION I : THE ART OF STORY TELLING 

We pass now to the art of story telling. Some of the 
early stories might be classed as folk-lore, for they were so 
primitive as to be very spontaneous and naive and evi- 
dently grew by being told about the camp-fires, that is, they 
were at first oral productions, or traditions, embodying 
evidently legendary material. Probably the imaginative ele- 
ment entered in very largely ; fanciful additions were doubt- 
less also made to the original version. In legends there 
may have been some basis of fact, and there may be very 
much truth, but there is also a good deal of the purely 
imaginative which has gone into the making of a good story. 

The best Hebrew stories belong probably to the legend- 
ary period. There are others, however, well worth study- 
ing from the standpoint of story telling and story-writing. 
The longer tales, when art had become a more conscious 
thing, and the shorter illustrative material which the great 
teachers used in the form of parables and allegories, are 
exquisite examples of a type of composition bearing a very 
original stamp and unsurpassed in excellence when com- 
pared with stories in other literature. We will study to- 
gether, therefore, all sorts of stories from the legendary tale 
to the parables used by Jesus, as one type of literature ex- 
emplified admirably in the Bible. Let us view the story 
according to our modern standards, to see if ancient litera- 
ture comes up to them. 

A story is a certain form of narrative writing, not history 
although it brings in a succession of events, and not biogra- 
phy although it deals very largely with persons and what 
they do. Wherein then does a story pure and simple differ 



STORY TELLING 89 

from these? It is largely in what the story tries to do. 
History and biography are primarily informational, they 
appeal to the intellect, they add to our store of knowledge 
concerning facts. A story may give us information but 
that is not the primary reason for our reading it. We pick 
up a good story when we are tired or when we wish to be 
amused. Its appeal is first of all to our emotions rather 
than to our reason. The well-educated person wishes, how- 
ever, to have his intellect exercised to some extent also. 
He is not satisfied with mere play upon his feelings with- 
out any thought. But when he picks up a story it is in this 
order that he wishes real thinking to come, behind, riding 
as a footman, not before, driving his horses. This is why 
in the strenuous life we live it is a rest to read a good story. 
To change the figure, our hard-working reasoning powers 
that have been driving our machine all day are ready to sit 
back on the cushion and let some other faculty do the steer- 
ing for the time being. If our car is not directed right, our 
reason is there ready to criticize and even to jump to the 
wheel in case of impending disaster, but it is the sister 
faculty, emotion, that is now in the front seat. And so the 
events which might make a historical narrative are now to 
be carefully selected for their interest, and the persons who 
appear on the scene are chosen because they appeal to our 
feelings in some especial way. 

The main difference between a speech or an essay and a 
story, so far as its progress is concerned, is that the speech 
or essay must proceed logically, while the story must go 
rapidly from one action to another, always appealing to the 
imagination; that is, picture after picture must occupy the 
stage of our minds, forming, indeed, a series of moving 
pictures. And the appeal of the picture is principally, in 
its initial appearance, to the feelings. The story is slow if 
our imagination is not thus kept busy. It is successful if it 
does not let our minds lapse into too much of the reasoning 
process between pictures. This is why story appealed espe- 
cially to primitive peoples. Theirs were the childhood days 
of the race, when the imagination was being developed 



90 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

first of all. Not argument and logical demonstration took 
hold of them, but people and situations which aroused im- 
mediately love or hate, pleasure or anger, peace or excite- 
ment, admiration or disgust. They did not stop to reason 
why but they knew they liked a thrilling story. 

If one examines the paragraphing of a story one sees 
that the principle involved is entirely different from that 
employed in a speech, essay, history, or biography; it 
is not a matter of logical breaks in content of thought, but 
of indented spaces for the sake of making change, "change 
of speaker in dialogue or somebody's arrival on the scene 
or perhaps a pause in the action." ^ 

A good story is one of the most artistic of products. 
How is it done? How do you make your reader keep his 
imagination actively at work every minute without knowing 
he is working? How do you keep him from getting tired 
and throwing the story down? How do you succeed in 
producing a series of thrills without their becoming monoto- 
nous and losing their force? How do you make the series 
of little thrills all come out at the end in one big thrill, so 
that your reader finishes the tale with a gasp or a smile, 
feeling that he has been in another world for the time 
being, having forgotten all his present surroundings? 

A short story differs in its structure from a long story 
in many respects. There must be a judicious choice of 
only the chief persons and events to put upon the screen, 
and since they have only a short time in which to make 
their impressions only the essential characteristics of these 
events or persons can have place. However, since even 
for a short time the mind cannot concentrate on one thing 
alone to advantage, there must be relief through contrast, 
but the contrast must serve the main purpose, not distract 
from it; in other words, there must be unity in the whole 
plan. 

In a short story, then, there should be a hero and there 
should be some main event which brings out the heroic 
qualities of this person. There must be another character 

1 Baldwin, C. S., Composition Oral and Written. 



STORY TELLING 91 

in contrast to the hero who adds luster to the hero's crown 
just because he is so different. But the hero's greatness 
must not be revealed all at once although you suspect it is 
inherent. There must be development and there must be 
climax, and to make the climax more effective, there should 
be thrown in, just before the end, doubt as to how it is all 
going to turn out, in other words, suspense. 

Moreover, in the marshalling of the different parts of 
the story there must be rapidity. Long waits between 
scenes are to be avoided, for the amateur's hand is de- 
tected quickly here, just as it is in amateur dramatics. In 
a long story the different stations are interesting in them- 
selves, and we can afford to get off our express train now 
and then and rest our legs by wandering about, viewing the 
scenery and even picking a few flowers. But not so on this 
short trip. We are impatient of delays. We are eager 
to proceed and we have been promised an early arrival at 
our destination. Therefore, stopping for water or coal 
proves as much of a detriment to interest as it adds it on 
the transcontinental trip. 

If this eagerness to get along is satisfied, that fact may 
in itself rnake a short story successful without any definite 
plan. If each separate incident is made very vivid it may 
grip the imagination strongly enough to absorb attention 
and allow no lapses until the story is done. This is what 
the stories of the Arabian Nights do in large measure 
as compared with a modern short story. "They lack per- 
spective and their quick succession of events shows no pro- 
portion. They do not conceal the knowledge and skill which 
the modern artist conceals in his work." ^ This last state- 
ment of Miss Dye reveals the fact that to-day the 
writing of the short story is a very conscious art and that 
it was not so in primitive times when stories were told about 
the camp fires. But here we may well ask this question: 
Did not some of the early story tellers use an art and con- 
ceal it, too, without being conscious that they were con- 
cealing anything; that is, in the highest type of primitive 

2 Charity Dye — The Story-Teller's Art, p. 19. 



92 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

story telling was there not quite as effective an art employed 
as to-day? It is interesting to compare the Joseph stories, 
for example, with the Arabian Nights from this point of 
view. 

We have said that the successful short story brings on 
the stage a quick succession of scenes. It is this dramatic 
element which is one of the most striking characteristics of 
the short story. Let me quote what Miss Albright has 
written in her book on the Short Story.^ She says — "In 
scope and style, if not in subject-matter, the short story of 
to-day is as nearly akin to the drama as to the novel. 
Indeed, it would seem that the growing emphasis on situor- 
tion rather than a mere sequence of interesting events, the 
marked preference for presenting crises in the lives of char- 
acters, and the 'deliberate and conscious use of impression- 
istic methods' must have been derived in great measure from 
a study of the technique of the drama. . . . The artificial iso- 
lation of a limited number of people and events, the artistic 
lengthening of dialogue, the concentration on a single issue, 
the vivid picturing of a scene that is significant, are essen- 
tially dramatic. . . . The main difference between the story 
motive and that of drama is that the story may treat a more 
commonplace theme and a less striking situation, with a 
climax less significant and intense." 

The short story, then, while having some of the char- 
acteristics of a long story and also of a drama, is unique 
and has an art of its own. Professor Baldwin sums this up 
well in his very graphic analysis of the excellence of Bible 
stories, when he points out that the first thing to do is to 
call the attention to one main person and one main event, 
and the second is to take hold of the attention with a firm 
grip, and the third is to go on or progress rapidly from one 
action to another, and that this progress must get faster 
as the story proceeds until near the end when it slows down 
to increase suspense and to make ready for the final stroke. 
But just how is all this accomplished? To begin with the 
last point first, the events must be explained in an ascending 

3 E. M. Albright— T/te Short Story, p. 9. 



STORY TELLING 93 

scale of interest. As for the first point, how to fix the 
attention, there must be definite, concrete detail, specific 
mention of colors, attitudes, smells, and other matters of sen- 
sation; above all, of details of motion and sound. The 
gesture and speech of the persons must be represented to 
make the whole realistic. Thus the imagination of the 
reader or listener is stimulated until he feels himself actually 
present at the scene, even living in one of the characters, 
if the use of dialogue has been properly effective. 

As to the second point, how to go on or progress, one 
rule to be emphasized is not to stop to explain too much. 
Suggest rather than explain. This keeps the imagination 
busy and it also gives the reader the comfortable feeling 
that he is himself making discoveries. There must be much 
selection and omission; not too many scenes nor too many 
places nor too many people talking, for we are going rapidly 
and there must not be distraction. The high points must 
be touched; the significant things only must be introduced, 
those incidents and characteristics which will interpret the 
phase of life to be impressed upon the mind. In the middle 
of the tale there may be puzzling complications so that we 
do not see just what the solution is and thus our interest 
is increased. But such complications should not be too 
elaborate or the feeling of lack of proportion will come 
in, of distraction and impatience that we are not arriving. 
Professor Baldwin tells us that coherence in story telling is 
secured when the reader is feeling for the time that he 
himself is the hero. And at the end there must be a sense 
of satisfaction, of completeness ; the story is really finished. 
Therefore the ending must be especially vivid and con- 
crete. 

Now in all that has been said two elements are quite 
apparent, namely, simplicity, and earnestness of purpose 
which brings in the zest of enthusiasm. Add to this beauty 
and rhythm of style and an almost perfect story is accom- 
plishedc This rhythmical, poetical element is especially ap- 
parent in Bible stories. It adds the charm we cannot re- 
sist. To quote from Miss Albright again, "The Book of 



94 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

Ruth, written about 450 B.C. is essentially a short story. 
Some twenty-three hundred years have affected the tech- 
nique of story writing, bringing about in some directions 
such a remarkable development as to make plausible the as- 
sertion that the short story is a nineteenth century produc- 
tion. But twenty-three hundred years have not sufficed to 
rob this simple narrative of story interest for readers of 
to-day. The facts of the case are that the short story ap- 
peared in occasional excellence even before the time of the 
first novel worthy of the name." The Book of Ruth, simple 
as it is, is more elaborate than many of the stories of the 
Bible. 

We may adopt for Bible stories the title "tale," defining 
the tale as "the story of a single incident or episode," such 
as that of David and Goliath ; yet here, too, the same char- 
acteristics of a good short story are dem.anded, only it is 
more essential to have a single purpose and not to introduce 
unnecessary and extraneous features. Add to this the poeti- 
cal elements of rhythm, and in its best form the short tale 
becomes the ballad. "Of all short stories in English none 
have been more widely popular than the ballads." This 
brings early stories back to folk-lore. 

For the present we will postpone the study of fable, para- 
ble, and allegory, which are not short stories of the simplest 
type because they bring in another element, namely, that of 
instruction. We shall study first such early stories as that 
of Abraham and Isaac, the Joseph cycle, and David and 
Goliath, and then the longer short stories of Ruth and 
Esther. If we apply very strictly the modern standards of a 
good story we shall find that these Bible stories measure up 
to them par excellence. 

SECTION II : SHORT STORIES — EXAMPLES 

Abraham and Isaac, Genesis 22: 1-19. 

The entire cycle of Abraham stories is very interesting 
and meets admirably the test of good short stories, although 
not quite so perfectly as do the Joseph tales. Abraham as 



STORY TELLING 95 

the patriarch of a family, the sheik of a tribe, wandering 
about from place to place to find pasturage for his numerous 
flocks, has been called "the most august figure" of ancient 
times. There is much dignity about him, and the way in 
which the writer graphically pictures his mystical commun- 
ings with the deity and his religious development reveals 
the characteristic prophetic sensitiveness to spiritual reali- 
ties. Moreover, the atmosphere of his Bedouin surround- 
ings is beautifully preserved in the incidents recorded. Just 
how much accurate history came down through the tradi- 
tion is a question scholars can probably never determine. 
Theories range all the way from absolutely literal fact to 
the idea that Abraham stood simply as the personification of 
tribal history'. Perhaps a middle ground is better, that 
here is the picture of an actual ancestor of the race, a first 
pioneer, with many stories about him handed down from 
generation to generation and told about the camp-fires and 
in the homes, until these hero tales were crystallized into 
written literature by that early prophetic school of the 
northern kingdom which did so much to preserve the tradi- 
tions of the beginnings of the Hebrew people. 

Certain it is that there is imbedded in these very graphic 
stories a religious element of a high order, witnessing to 
the struggle of a people of remarkable spiritual insight and 
genius in their progress away from the cruder and more 
childish and earthly levels of the races around them to a 
truly worthy conception of an ethical God demanding ethical 
conduct of his children. In reading the Abraham stories we 
are, as it were, in a glass-bottom boat out at sea looking 
down into the depths and watching some of the primitive 
stages of development. Here we find mystical tendencies 
which hark back to a primitive animism, the belief in the 
nearness of the spirits and the gods and their easy com- 
munication with men, combining with the moral demands 
of character and laying the foundation for the rare religious 
ideals of the later prophets, which like tall mountain peaks 
have pointed the way to heaven itself. In that prophetic 
period we find what in all the history of religions is a unique 



96 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

combination, the union of high ethical ideas with the con- 
scious reahzation of the presence of the deity. The super- 
stitions of a crude faith were gradually left behind and the 
vision of a holy God, a God of righteousness and justice, 
was revealed. This revelation was to the prophet the very 
voice of God; His enveloping presence was as vivid and 
real as when He "appeared to Abram, and said unto him, 
I am God Almighty; walk before me and be thou perfect. 
And I will make my covenant between me and thee." Thus 
there is a common point of view, a vital connection between 
the early stories of Genesis and later Biblical writings. 

In the story of Abraham and Isaac we have the climax 
of Abraham's development. We see in the very process 
the flying leap made from the concept of a God like the 
heathen gods of the nations around him, demanding human 
sacrifices and the devotion of the precious first-born upon 
a bloody altar, to the realization of an ethical God, asking 
rather the devotion of a life consecratea to obedience to 
God's holy will. This is the record of a great step in the 
history of the religious ideas of the world, when man broke 
loose from the chains of a superstitious belief in the neces- 
sity of buying the favor of a capricious deity and rose to 
the moral plane of the sanctity of human life in accord with 
the life of God himself. Stories in other literatures have 
the similar theme of the demand of human sacrifice to 
appease or please the gods, but no other literature gives us 
such a condensed and vivid picture of the flight of man's 
soul from lower to higher standards of reHgious truth. 

Suggested Study 

Compare with this story the Greek myth of Iphigenia to 
be found in Galey's or Bullfinch's Mythology. Compai^ th<* 
two stories from the standpoint of the art of story-telling 
as outlined in the previous section, and also from the stand- 
point of religious ideas. 

The Joseph Stories, /. Genesis Z7, II. Genesis 39, ///. Gen- 
esis 40 and 41, IV. Genesis 42-47. 



STORY TELLING 97 

Suggested Study 

Compare the Joseph Stories with The Story of the 
Slave Kafoor in the Arabian Nights ^ or Ali Baba and the 
Forty Thieves or Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp. 
Compare it also with Washington Irving's story of Rip Van 
Winkle. Read George Hodge's paraphrases in his book of 
children's Bible stories, The Garden of Eden. Notice his 
choice of title. Make your own paraphrases. There is no 
better practice for realizing the fine points of a story than 
writing a paraphrase. Choose your own titles for each 
story in the Joseph cycle, having in mind the requisites of 
good titles. What ethical lessons are conveyed? 

Gideon's Three Hundred, Judges 7; David and Goliath, 
/ Samuel 17: 1-54. 

Suggested Study 

Compare these stories with Henry Van Dyke's A Brave 
Heart or The Keeper of the Light. ^ Then read Dean 
Hodge's paraphrases.® Show how these stories succeed or 
fail in meeting the tests of a good story. Write your own 
paraphrase and choose your own title for both stories. 
Should these stories be used as teaching ethical lessons ? If 
so, where must the line be drawn between the background 
of a more or less barbarous age and the standards of con- 
duct which would apply even to-day? 

SECTION hi: longer stories 
Ruth. 

Suggested Study 

Read the book of Ruth, and after you have measured it 
by the standards of a good story read what others have said 

4 See Lane's translation. Vol. I, p. 440. 

5 To be found in The Ruling Passion. 

6 In The Garden of Eden. 



m A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

of it/ Get clearly in mind the original story and the edi- 
torial setting, the relation of the question of the divorce 
of foreign wives with this simple pastoral tale of early 
days. Note the likeness between the devotion of Ruth to 
Naomi and the devotion of her great-grandson David to 
Jonathan. Compare with this the classic example of Tenny- 
son and his friend Hallam as recorded in In Memoriam. 
Note the remnant of a very early folk-song in Ruth's reply 
to her mother-in-law. 

Entreat me not to leave thee, 

And to return from following after thee ; 

For whither thou goest I will go ; 

And where thou lodgest I will lodge; 

Thy people shall be my people, 

And thy God my God; 

Where thou diest, will I die, 

And there will I be buried. 

Even the translation of our ordinary text cannot fail to 
make us feel the rhythm ; it falls naturally into verse. Com- 
pare Kipling's story Without Benefit of Clergy as a modern 
tale of devotion. 

Esther. 

Suggested Study 

Read the book of Esther and make up your mind as 
to the character and excellence of the story. Is it a true 
romance, as it has sometimes been called ? Inform yourself 
from some of the books already referred to concerning the 
reason for its being written and the historical setting. Com- 
pare it as a story with Thackeray's A Princess's Tragedy. 

BOOKS TO CONSULT 

In addition to those already referred to see 
Shedlock, Marie L., The Art of the Siory-Teller. 
Wood, Irving F., Heroes of Early Israel, for the stories in Samuel. 

7 Compare especially some good Introduction to Biblical Literature, such as 
Wood and Grant, The Bible as Literature. Read also Fowler, History of the 
Literature of Ancient Israel; Genung, A Guidebook to Biblical Literature; 
Moulton, A Literary Study of the Bible. 



STORY TELLING 99 

Fowler, H. T., Great Leaders of Hebrew History, for Esther and 

later tales. 
Cadbury, H. J,. National Ideals in the Old Testament, Chapter 
XXIII, The Literature of Suppression. 

SECTION IV : FABLES, PARABLES, ALLEGORIES AND PROVERBS 

There is a type of story most excellently illustrated in 
the Bible which is different from pure myth and the simple 
tale because there is a lesson very pointedly conveyed. In- 
struction is more readily received by primitive and unedu- 
cated people in the form of a story than in the bare, didactic 
form of a sermon or essay. In fact, this method of pointing 
a lesson is often most effective in later civilizations and 
among the cultured. Witness the interest manifested by the 
older members of a congregation in a skillful children's ser- 
mon, which is most often a parable or an allegory, and also 
the real delight fathers and mothers have in reading such 
stories to their children. It is not simply the delight in 
assisting the children to information but it is a pleasure on 
their own account. The chuckles with which a good story 
with a point to it is received by the group around the coun- 
try store; or in the club is evidence also to the fact that 
the normal human being likes to have his instruction come 
to him in the form of concrete pictures. Moreover, the 
plain, unvarnished truth will often be resented, but if the 
mind is first held and pleased by a good story, there is 
sufficient preparation made for the sinking in of the obvious 
truth at the end. People with strong prejudices (and most 
people have prejudices) are often best awakened to a truth 
in this way, for there is an attractiveness or gentle humor 
about the story which holds resentment in abeyance. It 
may come at the end, when the point is realized, but the 
instructor has had a chance to make his lesson clear before 
the explosion. 

This kind of instructional story has its different forms 
with marked characteristics of their own. Fable, parable, 
and allegory are all stories. Of course any one of them 
may either be used as an illustration or told for its own 
sake, but they differ from mere illustrations in not being 



100 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

applicable to one single instance alone, but in having a 
certain story essence and completeness in themselves. 

Let us first distinguish between parable and fable. In 
both there is a resemblance between the actions of the natu- 
ral objects described, such as animals or plants, and the 
human beings to whom they are Hkened, who are acting out 
their spiritual problems. We can compare such stories to 
similes ; they are in fact, lengthened similes. It is not right, 
however, to try to make the story fit in every particular, 
although the history of the progress of events in the one 
case is supposed to be parallel to the history of the process 
in the other. In the case of the fable the lesson to be 
drawn is on a lower level than in the parable. Worldly 
wisdom, shrewd conclusions as to the most expedient way 
to act for earthly success, and understanding of natural 
law for one's own good here and now — this is the plane 
of the moral in a fable. The parable is on a more spiritual 
plane. 

A second distinction is that for the benefit of the com- 
parison elements are often put into the fable which one 
would never actually find in fact. Animals and trees are, 
for example, made to act in very human fashion. Human 
motives are attributed to them and the kinship is assumed 
to be as close as it used to be thought in the early animistic 
days, when no very definite distinctions were made between 
the spirits in nature and the spirit in man. But in a parable 
there is strict truthfulness; facts in nature are set over 
against facts in human life. If a man builds his house 
on the sand and the floods come, it is likely to be washed 
away or fall down, we all know. If a man builds his char- 
acter on the shifting sands of this world's popularity, the 
same thing happens to him, we observe. This is a fact in 
both cases and the laws of nature and the laws of spiritual 
life are in perfect harmony here. But the latter is a spir- 
itual truth, for it is lifted above the common level of mere 
expediency. It means life or death so far as the man's 
character and his eternal welfare are concerned. It may be 
a matter of prudence for this life also, but it is not merely 



STORY TELLING 101 

a shrewd observation which will help him to get the best of 
his fellows. It is a matter of fundamental and eternal 
importance. The parable is on a spiritual level, the fable is 
on a worldly level; the parable is based on fact, the fable 
introduces mythical elements. Yet the fable is not a myth, 
for in a myth there is no attempt to make definite compari- 
sons with human life. A myth is more of a purely imagi- 
native tale, letting the story carry whatever truths it will. 

Another characteristic difference between fable and para- 
ble is that while the fable is in a very light vein, the parable 
is always serious. The fable may be a jest, but there is no 
jest in the parable. The fable often ridicules men's foibles, 
and laughs at their sins, but not so the parable. There may 
be contrasts in a parable that reveal a humorous situation, 
but the story is not told for the sake of the humor; it is 
told with the most serious moral earnestness. There may 
be indignation present but it is different from ridicule; it 
is the indignation which reveals real respect for human 
beings. 

Now how does an allegory differ from a fable or a 
parable? We have said that a fable or a parable is a 
lengthened simile. The allegory is a lengthened metaphor. 
Instead of the resemblance between the natural objects 
and human nature being plainly marked by a *'like" or an 
"as" the likeness is taken for granted. Jesus did not first 
tell a story of a good shepherd and then say that he was 
like him. He said, "I am the good shepherd" and then 
went on to tell what the good shepherd did, assuming that 
He did the same for his sheep, human beings. The Psalm- 
ist sang, "The Lord is my shepherd," not, is like a shep- 
herd because he does so and so. Jesus told a story once 
about a man who lost one sheep out of a flock of a hun- 
dred and how he rejoiced when he found it ; when he closed 
he said, "Even so, there shall be joy in heaven over one 
sinner that repenteth," pointing out the likeness very defi- 
nitely. But Jeremiah says, "My people have been lost 
sheep ; their shepherds have caused them to go astray ; they 
have turned them away on the mountains ; they have gone 



102 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their resting- 
place," and we do not need to have any explanation to tell 
us that he does not mean literal mountains and hills. In 
I Peter 2 : 25, however, the figure is a simile in the first 
phrase and a metaphor in the next : "Ye were going astray 
like sheep; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and 
Bishop of your souls." 

Biblical allegories are for the most part on the same high 
spiritual level as parables. It is to be noted that we find 
allegory in the gospel of John and parable in the synoptic 
gospels, showing the different literary form preferred by 
different authors. 

We have previously studied a few proverbs in connection 
with riddles and said that many of the later, more sophisti- 
cated maxims were based on the early form of the conun- 
drum. A proverb is often also like a parable or an allegory, 
because it is not mainly a humorous play on words but 
rests upon a comparison, a real resemblance between the 
laws governing natural objects and spiritual laws. This is 
why the book of Proverbs comes in the section of Biblical 
literature known as "Wisdom Literature," because now the 
instructional rather than the humorous element is the main 
thing. Thus a proverb is usually a short parable or allegory 
based upon the figure of simile or metaphor ; it is a "way- 
side saying." In both the Hebrew and Greek languages t!:^ 
same word is often used for both proverb and parable.^ 

There is one caution which needs to be observed in the 
interpretation of all these forms of instructional story. 
They were not intended in the mind of the original writer 
to be pressed too far. The true interpretation is obvious 
and easy. They should not be forced to support doctrinal 
details of which the authors were never aware. 

8 See Luke 4: 2^ and the word "mashal" in Hebrew. 



STORY TELLING 103 

SECTION V: FABLES, PARABLES, ALLEGORIES, AND PROVERBS 

EXAMPLES 

FABLES 

Jotham's Tdihl^y Judges 9:8-15. 

Suggested Study 

Compare Jotham's fable with the following Fables from 

JEsop. 

The Turtle and the Eagle 

A Turtle asked an Eagle to teach her how to fly. The Eagle 
advised her not to try, as she was not fit for it ; but she insisted. 
The Eagle took her in his claws, raised her up, and dropped her; 
she fell on stones and broke to pieces. 

The Jay and the Peacock 

A Jay venturing into a yard where Peacocks used to walk, found 
there a number of feathers which had fallen from the Peacocks 
when they were moulting. He tied them all to his tail and strutted 
down toward the Peacocks. When he came near them they soon 
discovered the cheat, and striding up to him pecked at him and 
plucked away his borrowed plumes. So the Jay could do no better 
than go back to the other Jays, who had watched his behavior from 
a distance ; but they were equally annoyed with him, and told him, 
"It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds." 

Also compare with The Bat, The Birds and the Beasts, Thet 
Father and His Sons, The Raven and the Fox. 

Tolstoi's Adaptation of a Hindoo Fable 

The Snake's Head and Tail 

The Snake's Tail had a quarrel with the Snake's Head about 
who was to walk in front. The Head said: "You cannot walk in 
front, because you have no eyes and no ears." 

The Tail said: "Yes, but I have strength, I move you; if you want 
to, I can wind myself around a tree, and you cannot get off the spot," 

The Head said: "Let us separate!" 



104 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

And the Tail tore himself loose from the Head and crept on; 
but the moment he got away from the Head he fell into a hole and 
was lost. 

Compare with this Paul's parable where he uses a fable 
to illustrate his parable of The Members and the Body in 
I Corinthians 12 : 12-30. 

From the Arabic Fables of Bidpai 
The Lark and the Elephant 

A lark had made her nest in the road which an elephant was in 
the habit of passing when he went to drink. The elephant, going 
one day as usual to quench his thirst, trod upon the nest of the lark 
and broke the eggs, and destroyed the unhatched young ones which 
they contained; upon which the lark, who had no doubt by whom 
the injury had been done, mounted up into the air, and, hovering 
over the head of the elephant, cried out in a lamentable tone, "O 
King, is it out of contempt, and the little respect which you enter- 
tain for your neighbor, that you have broken my eggs, and destroyed 
my unhatched brood?" Which the elephant acknowledging to be 
the case, she flew away, and went to the assembly of the birds, and 
complained to them of the injustice of which the elephant had been 
guilty ; but they excused their refusal to interfere in her favor, by 
alleging their inability to contend with the elephant. Upon this the 
lark addressed herself more particularly to the magpies and crows, 
and engaged them to peck out the eyes of the elephant, whilst she 
was preparing another snare for him ; and the magpies and the 
crows continued striking the elephant's eyes with their beaks, till 
they had entirely destroyed them, and he was left without the means 
of finding his way to the pastures, where he was in the habit of feed- 
ing, and was forced to content himself with the scanty nourishment 
which he could pick up from the place where he was. When the 
lark was informed of this, she went to a pond, where there were a 
great many frogs, and made similar complaints of the conduct of 
the elephant; and they asked her, how it was possible for them to 
assist her against so powerful an enemy? She said to thern, "I beg 
of you, to have the goodness to accompany me to a large pit, which 
is near the spot where the elephant is, and to go down into it and 
croak; and the elephant when he hears the noise, will fancy that 
there is water there, and, advancing toward the sound, will fall 
into the pit and perish." The frogs complied with the request of 
the lark, and everything happened to the elephant as she had fore- 
told ; then, fluttering over his head as he lay in agonies below her, 
she said, "O tyrant, thou art deceived in the opinion which thou 
hadst formed of thy power and strength ; and the inferiority of my 
size compared with thine has disappeared before the cunning con- 
trivance which has defeated thy sagacity." 



STORY TELLING 105 

PARABLES 
The Relentless Servant, Matthew 18:21-35. 

Suggested Study 

Compare this parable of the servant with the following 
Arabic Tale of the Merchant which is similar in its lesson 
but not strictly parabolic in form. 

A merchant who possessed an hundred pounds of iron, being 
obliged to be absent for a few days, entrusted his stock to the care 
of a friend, and having at his return demanded to have it returned 
to him, was answered, that the mice had eaten it ; to which he made 
no other reply than that he had heard of the sharpness of their 
teeth in biting iron, removing by this declaration all suspicion of 
incredulity; but as he was going away, he chanced to meet the son 
of his friend and seizing him, led him away to his own house. On 
the morrow the father came to him in great haste, to ask if he 
knew anything of his son : the merchant told him that as he was 
returning home the preceding day he saw a hawk carry off a young 
lad, who probably might be his son. "Is it credible," exclaimed the 
father, "or was it ever heard of, that a hawk carried away a child?" 
"Indeed," answered the merchant, "in a country where the mice can 
eat an hundred pounds of iron, it is not incredible that hawks 
should be able to carry off the elephants." Upon this the father con- 
fessed his theft, paid the merchant the price of his iron, and de- 
manded in return his son. 

The Wedding Garment, Matthew 22 : 2-14. 

Suggested Study 

Compare this parable of The Wedding Garment with 
Krummacher's parable of The Fidelity of Uri. 

A heathen king summoned a pious bishop to his presence, and 
demanded that he should renounce his faith, and sacrifice to idols. 
The bishop said, "My Lord and King, I will not do this." 

Then the king was very wroth, and said, "Knowest thou not that 
thy life is in my hand, and that I have power to kill thee? One 
word from me, and it will be done." 

"I know it," answered the bishop. "But suffer me to tell thee a 
simile, and to put a question for thee to decide upon." 

"If one of thy most faithful servants fall into the hands of thine 
enemies, who forthwith try to seduce him to become a traitor to 
thee, — but thy servant being immovable, thy enemies take all his 
garments from him, drive him naked away with scorn and derision, 



106 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

— tell me, O King, when he comes to thee, wilt thou not give him 
of thy best robes, and pay with high honor the shame he hath en- 
dured ?" 

Then the king answered and said; "Yea; but to what purpose is 
this, and where has this been done?" 

The pious bishop answered, "Behold, thou also canst take this 
earthly garment from me. But I have a lord and master who will 
give me a new robe. Should I regard the garment and for its sake 
depart from the faith?'* 

Then the heathen king said : "Go thy way ; I grant thee thy life." 

Read the two great parable chapters, Matthew 13 and 
Luke 15. Note that Matthew's are nature parables, and 
that Luke dwells upon those involving people and human 
interests. Each set of gems is strung upon the thread of a 
common theme, that in Matthew is the kingdom of heaven, 
in Luke, finding the lost. The three parables in Luke have 
been called the stories of The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin, 
The Lost Boy. 

ALLEGORY 

The Good Shepherd, John 10: 1-18. 
The Vine, John 15:1-8. 



Suggested Study 

Note how often the shepherd and the vine are used figura- 
tively in the Old Testament as well as in the New. Com- 
pare the allegory of the vine with the parable of the vine- 
yard in the Synoptic Gospels and also with Isaiah's Vine- 
yard Song.^ Read the story of The Water Turned into 
Wine in John 2. Some scholars have interpreted this story 
as an allegory. If it is an allegory, what would be its inter- 
pretation? An interesting point to look up is why the 
writer of John seems to prefer the allegorical style and the 
synoptic writers the parabolic. 

Read the book of Jonah. Many scholars class this as 
an allegory, others as a parable. Which is right? What 
is the explanation of the story? Note the deep religious 

9 See p. 49. 



STORY TELLING 107 

lesson conveyed through such interpretation as compared 
with the grotesqueness and unnaturalness of a literal ex- 
planation. Note also that the beautiful poem in the second 
chapter, rich in its knowledge of life and its religious aspira- 
tion, is probably not a part of the original story but inserted 
later. Read Dr. Samuel Crothers' interpretation of Jonah 
in his essay. The Doctrinaire. This book of Jonah rises to 
the climax of spiritual vision in the Old Testament in its 
realization of the universal character of God's love. Its 
theme is the same as the famous phrase of Faber's hymn, 
"There is a wideness in God's mercy." Compare this pic- 
ture of the yearning love of God for all peoples with the 
parables in the fifteenth chapter of Luke which represent 
His intense love for the individual, and also with the parable 
of The Good Samaritan which is more of a parallel, in that 
it pictures the breaking down of racial prejudice. 

Compare Jonah from the literary standpoint of allegorical 
writing with Olive Schreiner's dreams of The Lost Joy, 
The Hunter, In a Ruined Chapel, and with Oscar Wilde's 
The Teacher of Wisdom in Poems in Prose. 

A further interesting study is to compare Biblical alle- 
gory with the later allegorical writing of the church and in 
medieval and English literature, also to note the tendency 
of the church to give an allegorical interpretation to writ^ 
ings not primarily of that type, such as The Song of Solo- 
mon.^'^ 

Try your own hand at making a fable, then at making a 
parable, and finally at making an allegory. Make a parable 
from one of the following Old Testament proverbs : 

Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, 
Sweet to the soul, and health to the bones. 

He whose spirit is without restraint, 

Is like a city that is broken down and without walls. 

He that passeth by and vexeth himself with strife belonging not to 

him, 
Is like one that taketh a dog by the ears. 

10 See the discussion of the interpretation of The Song of Solomon on p. 195. 



108 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble 
Is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint. 



BOOKS TO CONSULT 

DoDS, Marcus — Parables of Our Lord, pp. 7, 8. 

Kirk, E. N. — Lectures on Parables, Lee. 1. 

Penniman, J. H. — A Book About the English Bible, Ch. 12. 

Taylor, W. M. — Parables of Our Savior, pp. 1-16. 

Thomson, W. H. — Parables by the Lake, pp. 1-14. 

Trench, R. C— Notes on the Parables, Ch. I, Ch. Ill, pp. 32-39. 

The topics have something on them in 

Genung — Guidebook to Biblical Literature. 
MouLTON — Literary Study of the Bible. 

Staffer — Jesus Christ During His Ministry — Ch. II, The Language 
of Jesus. 

For Illustrations of Fables, Parables, etc., see 

^sop's Fables. 

Tolstoi, Count — Fables and Stories for Children. 

Kalila and Dimna or The Fables of Bidpai — Translated from the 

Arabic by W. Knatchbull. 
Krummacher, F. a. — Parables. 
LaFontaine's Fables. 
Schreiner, Olive — Dreams. 

For Selections of Stories and Proverbs from the Bible see 

Keeler and Wild — Ethical Readings from the Bible. 

For the Later use of Allegorical Writing see 

Courthope — History of English Poetry, Vol. i, Ch. IX. 
Mackenzie — English Morality Plays. 



Chapter IV 
HISTORY 

SECTION i: THE CHARACTER OF HISTORICAL WRITING 

Two points should be noted at the outset in the discussion 
of history as a type of literature in the Bible. This is the 
day when the historical method of study of the Biblical text 
is recognized as fundamental by all real scholars. No 
longer is it considered reasonable to make up a system of 
theology by wrenching texts away from their historical set- 
ting and putting them together like pieces in a puzzle; all 
texts to be understood rightly must be considered in their 
context against the background of the age in which they 
were written. This of course has resulted in some revisions 
of ideas concerning the meaning of certain passages. TO' 
the naturally conservative this change has sometimes seemed 
to indicate destruction, whereas really the historical method 
has meant a nearer approach to the original meaning, and 
advancement in our understanding of the messages of the 
Bible. To know, for example, that the second part of the 
book of Isaiah was written more than a hundred years later 
than the first part, by an entirely different man, under en- 
tirely different circumstances, does not detract in the least 
from the divine inspiration which gripped and held both 
men and made them see visions and draw pictures of the 
future quite unparalleled ; and it does help us very materially 
in understanding, for instance, the references to Cyrus and 
the significance of the wonderful imagery of *'the Suffering 
Servant." But the point is that such historical study of the 
Bible which to-day is recognized as fundamental in all 
scholarly approach, does not mean that the books are books 
of history. As we shall see before we have finished this 
survey of the literature of the Bible, a great proportion of 

109 



no A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

them are poetry and must be judged as poetry; some of 
them are in story form, others are in the form of letters or 
essays on some ethical and religious theme; and some are a 
mixture of various types of writing. 

The second point which must be made clear if we are to 
understand the Bible as literature is this : while the history 
which we do get from a careful study of the text, in the 
light of all the information scholars can shed upon it, is 
good history, the Biblical writings themselves may be very 
poor examples of the historical type of writing. The style 
may be poor, the purpose of the writer may not have been 
a very high purpose of historical accuracy, the light shed by 
a particular document may be highly colored by the author's 
prejudices and the very next book we read may seem to 
contradict it because that author had other prejudices; and 
yet while we would not take such productions as models of 
historical writing, they may contain very interesting histori- 
cal material, may have very great human interest, may, in- 
deed, show the guidance of God's hand throughout the his- 
torical development of the Hebrew people. In other words, 
to study the Bible as revealing the history of God's dealings 
with a people and to study it as a book of good historical 
writing are two very different things. This is where the 
study of the Bible as history and the study of the Bible 
as literature must meet and join hands. There is no prog- 
ress whatever unless the historical student recognizes that 
he is dealing with literature, a very varied literature both as 
to types represented and excellence, a literature coming 
down to us, good, bad, and indifferent, portions rising to 
great heights of excellence, and other portions quite inferior, 
limping in .both thought and expression; on the other hand 
no real progress is attained in literary appreciation until the 
historical background is quite fully understood. It is espe- 
cially important to keep these two very closely related fields 
of study together if we are to get the full significance of the 
Biblical messages. This is the modern way of approaching 
the Bible, the only sound and sane way of approaching any 
literature. The method of study should in no way obscure 



HISTORY 111 

the messages, it should rather clear the path so that they 
can be perceived the more vividly. 

Now when we examine the characteristics and the merits 
of good history we are confronted with the fact that there 
are different types and that our measure of excellence de- 
pends upon what we are looking for in the history. A like- 
ness between this type of literature and the story form is 
apparent on the one hand and between it and the essay on 
the other. First let us get clearly in mind how history is 
distinct from these other forms of literature and then con- 
sider the main types within the realm of history itself. 

What are the essentials of good history as distinct from 
story? As we have seen, story may be mythical, that is, 
a purely imaginative picture trying to explain phenomena 
the causes of which are hidden far back, previous to man's 
appearance on earth, or at any rate previous to any possible 
record of such beginnings. Story may also be a vivid pic- 
ture of events in which man certainly had some part, the 
data perhaps being handed down by tradition and enlarged 
upon by fancy. Or story may be purely fictitious so far 
as actual events and characters are concerned and yet true 
to life, so true that it carries with it the same lesson as if 
it really happened. These types of stories are illustrated by 
the Creation and Flood myths, by the Abraham, Joseph and 
David cycles of stories, and by the parable of the Good 
Samaritan and the allegory of Jonah. These are all narra- 
tives but narratives where truth must be separated from 
fact. The facts supposedly recorded are not always true, 
although the truth is often more profound than in a record 
of mere facts. In history on the other hand we are sup- 
posed to be dealing with facts and with verifiable facts. 
The evidence for these events is so strong that we can 
reasonably believe they actually happened. History is also 
usually put in narrative form, the events marshaled in 
chronological order. In this it is like story, also in the 
vividness with which the details are presented in order to 
make us see the picture. In the motive behind the arrange- 
ment of the events is found the key to the different types 



112 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

of historical writing. Sometimes this motive is so closely 
allied to that of the essayist that the historical narrative 
becomes practically an essay in the sense of setting forth a 
certain philosophical truth or making apparent certain ideas 
hidden beneath the outer crust of events. 

There are three main types of history. The first is purely 
descriptive, in which the object is apparently simply to make 
people see very vividly just what did take place, as if we 
had been upon the spot ourselves at the time: an example 
of this type would be Paul Revere's Ride, or the Battle of 
Salamis. The second type is didactic. Here the events are 
presented in such a way as to make us see some lesson 
which the writer thinks we ought to learn. This may be 
done by stress, emphasizing especially certain parts of the 
story, or certain characters, their motives and the conse- 
quences ; or it may be done by the insertion here and there 
of homiletical suggestions, sometimes only sentences, some- 
times whole paragraphs. An example of this kind would be 
Milton's use of historical material in the first part of his 
Tractate on Education. The third type is one in which the 
object of the author is to show causes for events or for con- 
sequences of certain events, to show the scientific relations 
of events or the great underlying movements either social 
or spiritual which give these events their especial signifi- 
cance. This is called scientific or genetic history, and the 
aim here is not to be entertaining in the sense of presenting 
picturesque details nor instructive in the sense of drawing 
moral lessons, although these elements may be present, but 
to deal with the material in hand according to philosophic 
principles which reveal relations. Examples of this kind 
of history may be found among the many articles and books 
which have tried to account for the Great War or its re- 
sults. In the Bible we have examples of all three types of 
history and such excellent short examples that they lend 
themselves most admirably to the student's purposes. 

These short examples will be studied in detail, but first we 
should look at the comparative merits of four series of 
documents or whole books which appear on the face of them 



HISTORY 113 

to be of the historical type, namely, I and II Samuel, I and 
II Kings, I and II Chronicles in the Old Testament, and 
the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament. I and II 
Samuel evidently incorporate in one narrative stories of 
Samuel, Saul, and David, which were composed very close 
to the time when those great characters lived. They have 
all the vividness and naivete of early folk tales, but folk 
tales written down so near the time when the events hap- 
pened that they justify being called history. There were 
evidently different avenues through which the historical 
tales of the Bible came down to posterity for they do not 
always agree in all their parts. For instance the way in 
which David is first introduced to Saul is given in one 
chapter as at Saul's home when the young lad was sum- 
moned to play before him, and in another chapter as out on 
the battlefield whither he was sent by his father to carry 
provisions to the brothers. Because the Samuel stories are 
so true to life with so little apparent purpose in telling them 
except to make the facts known, they are very good history 
from the standpoint of trustworthiness. From the stand- 
point of literary style, also, they are excellent, fresh, naive, 
vigorous, and picturesque. They are thought to have been 
drawn from collections of stories about Samuel, Saul, and 
David. 

The books of Kings are somewhat different. There is 
more of a plan in the arrangement ; the author is attempt- 
ing to give an account of all the kings; there is a certain 
set form which he uses, naming a king, giving a short ac- 
count of what he did, naming the kings of the other king- 
dom who reigned at the same time, closing with commenda- 
tion or censure. At certain points longer stories are intro- 
duced as, for example, of the interesting and important 
activities of Elijah and Elisha, but in the main it seems to 
be an attempt at royal annals, without any design to use 
the material because of its interest from a literary point 
of view. It is a record for the preservation of facts which 
in the mind of the author have something to teach. At the 
same time it is excellent history, evidently based upon facts 



114 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

that are well-known, and giving a very desirable survey of 
the period of four hundred years from Solomon to the 
Captivity. The author has gained his information from 
earlier records, for he mentions some of his sources, "The 
Acts of Solomon," "the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah," 
and "the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel." These are not 
our books of Chronicles, which came from a much later 
hand ; they are books lost to us except as they have been in- 
corporated in our books of Kings and Chronicles. They 
were records very likely based upon the official court annals. 

The characteristic which stands out most prominently in 
reading over I and II Kings is the evident bias of the 
editor; he comments approvingly upon all the kings of 
Judah, and disapprovingly upon the kings of the Northern 
Kingdom; he upholds the national religion as observed at 
Jerusalem, he condemns the religious customs and spirit of 
the north; he regards Israel as apostate, and Judah as the 
guardian of the true national religious ideal. This was 
doubtless true to a large extent, for the great prophetic 
ideals and literature came mostly from the south, not the 
north. But systematically to condemn all the kings of the 
north and praise all the kings of the south and to consider 
that all the enlightenment and regard for righteousness came 
from the south, seems rather extreme. We have therefore 
in these books a type of historical writing which comes under 
the second class, namely, didactic writing, the author having 
the purpose in assembling all these facts to teach the people 
to admire the career of the south and to repudiate the actions 
of the north. 

In the books of I and II Chronicles this type of historical 
writing is carried still further. The writer is covering the 
same period as I and II Kings; he uses the same sources 
plus others at his hand, our books of Samuel and Kings, a 
book of the Kings of Judah and Israel not preserved to us, 
the records of certain prophets, such as Nathan, Gad, Iddo 
and Isaiah. His writing is a compilation but with a very 
decided theological purpose. He emphasizes emphatically 
all that has to do with religious organization, the priests, 



HISTORY 115 

the Levites, the service of the temple. Moreover he moral- 
izes a great deal; he has a lesson to teach, that blessings 
come to those who keep strictly Yahweh's law and punish- 
ment befalls transgressors. To make his homiHes more ef- 
fective he sometimes exaggerates those blessings and calami- 
ties, if we may judge from his use of numbers compared 
with other accounts of the same events, and he sometimes 
introduces reasons for events falling out as they do which 
are not altogether harmonious with the statements in the 
other books. This author bears all the marks of a priestly 
rather than a prophetic writer, for the priests were con- 
cerned with an ecclesiastical type of religion and many de- 
tails, whereas the prophets were burning with an ethical and 
spiritual message, even condemning much of the conven- 
tional religious observance as unspiritual and unethical. 
These books, then, are not so good history as the others 
from the standpoint of accuracy, but they are an interesting 
contribution to the literature of the Bible in showing us a 
certain point of view which a prominent class of writers 
held, and the great earnestness with which they maintained 
their loyalty to Yahweh. 

The Book of Acts is the chief book of the New Testa- 
ment which pretends to be a historical narrative, for the 
Gospels are more after the type of memoirs, semi-biogra- 
phies, their purpose being to show forth the character and 
work of one personality, Jesus. The Book of Acts is an 
attempt to put together in chronological order the course 
of events in the starting of the church. Upon examination 
it is quite obvious that it is a compilation of documents; 
the first part deals with the beginnings of apostolic work 
before Paul came upon the scene as the most prominent 
personage, and it is written in the third person. The second 
part, beginning with chapter thirteen, has to do very ap- 
parently with PauFs career, and contains four sections 
written in the first person plural, the writer evidently being 
a companion of Paul. It may be that these four "we" 
sections were incorporated by another author into his ac- 
count of Paul, or it may be that this companion of Paul 



116 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

wrote the whole of the last section, drawing on his diary at 
the places where he introduces the "we" sections. Thus it 
is seen that we have here a composite work, made up of 
two or three documents, the style of each left largely as it 
was originally written, not smoothed over particularly by 
the editor's pen. It is not, therefore, the very best type of 
historical writing so far as Hterary merit is concerned, for 
such a book would present a unity which this does not. It 
is, however, of very great value from the standpoint of 
fact, and the portion which is evidently the record of an 
eye-witness at or near the time of the events is especially 
valuable. Those sections also afford specimens of the best 
sort of descriptive history. We can, therefore, select from 
this composite book certain passages which stand out aS' 
superior examples of this type of literature. 



SECTION II : EXAMPLES 

DESCRIPTIVE HISTORY 

Paul's Shipwreck, Acts 27. 

This is one of the eye-witness passages, so accurate as 
to places and nautical terms that it has been remarked upon 
by geographers and seamen. Its style is very straightfor- 
ward, for there are no wasted words and yet many details 
are given, just those which add to the understanding of 
the scenes and their vividness ; the words used are often 
very graphic; direct discourse helps this vividness. Notice 
the details given in verse 44, the words used in verses 14 
and 20, the interesting and enlightening reasons thrown in 
in verses 9 and 11, the direct discourse introduced in verse 
21, the picturesqueness of the connection made in verses 35 
and 38 between Paul's blessing the bread and throwing the 
wheat into the sea. Altogether this is an exceptionally fine 
bit of writing, giving the reader a very clear and realistic 
picture of the journey. 



HISTORY 117 

Suggested Study 

Compare with this Thucydides' Night Attack on Platcea} 
For the third century B.C. Thucydides was the ideal, truth- 
ful historian. He himself said, *T will be satisfied if my 
work shall prove useful to those who wish to see the truth, 
both of what has happened and will happen again, according 
to the order of human things." Compare Herodotus' de- 
scription of the Battle of Salamis^ or the Battle of Ther- 
mopyloB.^ Compare also with such straightforward records 
of the Great War as Philip Gibb's Now It Can Be Told or 
Brand Whitlock's Belgium. 

DIDACTIC HISTORY 
The Reign of Josiah, // Kings 22 : 1-23 : 30. 

Notice the directness of style in verse 1 and the writer's 
choice of the essential details. Notice that Josiah's descent 
is traced through the mother's line. For what purpose? 
What were his paternal ancestors like religiously ? In verse 
3 the writer begins his description of the most important 
event in Josiah's reign, his reform and the cleansing of the 
temple. It is this which he dwells on especially. Notice 
also that details are given to show the proper rank of the 
characters introduced. 

At the beginning of verse 5 curiosity is aroused to know 
what is to be done with the money gathered from the peo- 
ple ; it is not revealed until the end of the verse. The extent 
of the repairs inaugurated is shown in verse 6 by enumerat- 
ing the kinds of workmen; this also adds picturesqueness 
to the account. In verse 7 mention of the reliable character 
of the workmen throws light on the purpose of the writer. 
Read in this connection verses 14-19."* Verses 13-20 weave 
in the events with their import. 

iTranslation given in Warner's Library of the World's Best Literature. 

2 Herodotus, Book VIII. Ch. V. 74-88. Rawlinson's Translation. 

3 Book VII, Chs. 207-213. 

4 Verse 17 may have been added later. 



118 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

Read chapter 23 carefully and see if the purpose comes 
out more prominently. What is the especial import of 
verses 16-17? Does verse 17 add to the suggestiveness and 
picturesqueness of the account? Verse 22 is the climax. 
Why is the rest of the description added? State, Anally, in 
a sentence, the didactic purpose of this selection. 

Suggested Study 

Compare with this The Education of Henry Adams, Ch. 
IV, Harvard College; or James H. Snowden, Is the World 
Growing Better?, Ch. IX. The Bible and Progress, Ch. XI. 
The World War and a Better World; or William Adams 
Brown, Is Christianity Practicable f, Ch. II. The Christian 
Interpretation of History. 

GENETIC HISTORY 

The Council at Jerusalem and Its Consequences, Acts 
15 : 1-35. 

Suggested Study 

Notice the direct quotations. Why are they good evidence 
that here is accurate history? Compare the style with that 
of the passage from Kings. From the standpoint of litera- 
ture is it so good ? From the standpoint of historical truth- 
fulness? Is there apparently any purpose on the part of 
the writer to put into it his own interpretations and preju- 
dices? If the author or editor were Luke, Paul's companion, 
what naturally would have been his point of view about the 
question discussed? 

State precisely what this chapter throws light upon, or 
what it traces back to its origin. If this was the pivotal 
point in the history of the Christian Church is that made 
clear in this chapter? Would you read it as an example of 
historical writing because it is so well written that the style 
delights you, or only because you are interested in finding 
the facts which it states ? 



HISTORY 119 

Compare with this Ellen Churchill Semple's American 
History and its Geographic Conditions, Chapter VI, The 
Louisiana Purchase in the Light of Geographic Conditions. 

These illustrations of historical writing should be meas- 
ured for accuracy by six tests : 

1. The age or nearness to the event of the writing. Is 
the document genuine? 

2. The number of witnesses and variety of the evidence. 
Do these witnesses agree in the main and is there variety 
enough to believe they did not all copy one another ? 

3. The truthfulness of the witnesses. Did they know the 
facts and tell them honestly? 

4. The continuity of the records. Does their testimony 
come down in an unbroken line of transmission ? 

5. The relation of the passage under consideration to the 
rest of the document. Is the obvious interpretation of the 
single passage in harmony with the entire context? 

6. The appeal to reason. Is the impression of the testi- 
mony as a whole reasonable? 

In applying these tests one must remember that an ac- 
count may give an accurate general impression and yet not 
be absolutely true in all details, that not all phases of an 
event or a truth can be presented at once and therefore that 
the record may seem one-sided, or certain facts may be 
omitted without intention to deceive or to twist the argu- 
ment.^ 

BOOKS TO CONSULT 

Wood and Grant — The Bible as Literature. 

Skinner, John — Century Bible, I & II Kings, Introduction, pp. 5-10. 

Commentaries on Acts. 
Ramsay, William M. — St. Paul, the Traveller. 

5 What Dr. Ramsay say& in the Introduction to Saint Paul the Traveller, 
concerning the historical character of the book of Acts, is worth noting. 



Chapter V 
HEBREW POETRY 

SECTION i: INTRODUCTORY 

Hebrew literature is very largely poetical, even much of 
its prose is prose poetry, and sometimes it is hard to dis- 
tinguish between the prose and the poetical form. More 
and more translators are writing very much of the Old 
Testament as poetry. But the student must be cautioned 
that there are some enthusiasts who would press everything 
into poetical rhythm, into a certain scheme they can see 
or imagine they see, and would then conclude that all of a 
prophetic book, for example, that does not fall into that 
poetical scheme is a gloss. This is obviously artificial. In 
order for us really to understand Hebrew poetry we need 
to understand first the fundamental qualities of the poetic 
fire which burned in the breasts of those old prophets and 
psalmists and then to see how this found characteristic 
expression in certain forms peculiar to their genius, or in 
the structure of their poetry. 

One must ask first the questions, What is poetry? and 
Who is a poet ? before we can really classify the Hebrew 
poet. To-day we are having a whole school of poets break- 
ing loose from the conventional forms, writing what is called 
**free verse" and "impressionist" poetry, to the confusion of 
many of the uninitiated v/ho have associated a certain out- 
ward structure with poetry and when that is taken away are 
unable to distinguish it from prose. In the early transla- 
tions of the Hebrew text scholars were evidently unable to 
see poetry where it existed, for in the King James Version 
very much of what we now recognize as such was printed 
as prose. This is one of the advantages of the newer 
versions, that they try to make the poetry obvious to the 

120 



HEBREW POETRY 121 

eye as well as to the ear, however much they may lack in 
the dignity of English compared with the version of 1611. 
The fundamental poetic quality of the text they were trans- 
lating did indeed impress those early scholars for even their 
prose became poetic in its rhythmic cadences and elevated 
diction. But to-day, while the attempt is made at better 
and more literal translations in the sense of catching the 
exact meaning of the Hebrew words, there is an equal effort 
to show the verse forms which Hebrew poetry chose as 
most expressive of its thought and feeling. 

Poetry, any poetry, carries with it a large measure of 
feeling as well as intellectual perception. The poet is in- 
deed the seer, he catches visions. But a vision, a perception 
of truth, is not merely a luestion of idea, it is more funda- 
mental than that, for feeling came before ideas and awak- 
ened them. Poetry has been called "the emotion of life 
made audible." There seem to be two faculties of percep- 
tion within the highly developed, civilized man, the intuition 
and the reason. Intuition is the more primitive, certainly, 
many scholars think it is more fundamental and far-reach- 
ing; it necessarily carries with it more emotion, since it is 
the response of the whole being to the stimulus received. It. 
therefore lends itself morQ absolutely to the aesthetic or 
artistic development of the being. It is the power which 
belongs preeminently to the seer, the orophet, the mystic and 
the poet. 

Granted that this is a irue assumption one would natu- 
rally expect to find a close relationship between poetical and 
prophetical literature, and it does not surprise one to find 
the prophetical books printed as poetry as scholars come to 
appreciate more truly their real significance. It is but natu- 
ral that religious revelation should come most distinctly and 
emphatically to the poet, or to turn it about, that the re- 
ligious seer should express his visions in poetical form. 
America's most eminent exponent of religious mysticism 
has recently made this statement, "To some the truth of God 
never comes closer than a logical conclusion. He is held to 
be as a living item in a creed. To the mystic he becomes 



122 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

feal in the same sense that experienced beauty is real, or 
the feel of spring is real, or summer sunlight is real : He has 
been found, He has been met. He is present." ^ That sounds 
like poetry as well as rehgion. A recent English book on 
A New Study of English Poetry^ contrasts the business 
of science and poetry thus : "To attempt to see things as 
they are in themselves is the splendid forlorn hope allotted 
to Science; it is no work of Poetry. The business of 
Poetry is to see spirits as they are, and all things as they 
are in the life of the spirit. . . . And it may be that that is 
not all : it may be that there is in poetry the power to reach 
a still deeper truth, a still profounder being, to draw at times 
directly from that unseen, unsounded, underlying Pool of 
Personality, of which our own lives are but momentary jets 
flung into sunlight." 

The first function of poetry mentioned here might well be 
illustrated by John Drinkwater's Crocuses, the second by 
his To One I Love. The first poem has all the charm of 
an animistic faith, the second is truly religious in the highest 
sense of the consciousness of a personal and ethical God. 
The Hebrews had both, for they were near enough to the 
naive, primitive imagination of animism to feel very closely 
bound to Nature, to the winds which were God's messengers, 
and the flames of fire which were his ministers, the clouds 
which were his chariot, and the morning stars which sang 
together ; and in the golden age of their poetry the prophetic 
conception of a God of character was realized through the 
intuitive, mystical sense. 

Seek ye Jehovah while He may be found ; 
Call ye upon Him while He is near: 
Let the wicked forsake his way, 
And the unrighteous man his thoughts. 

For ye shall go out with joy, 
And be led forth with peace : 
The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you 

into singing: 
And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. 

1 Rufus Jones. 

2 William Newbolt. 



HEBREW POETRY 12S 

In this kind of poetry we find the power to reach the 
deeper truth, the profounder being. The Hebrews were 
master of this intuitional, spiritual perception. 

But Hebrew literature is also a national literature. One 
of the great delights in studying the Old Testament is found 
in the fact that the life of the people there portrayed was 
one. They had not yet advanced sufficiently in civilization 
to pick life all to pieces and pigeon-hole it into proper com- 
partments. They all lived together with their God, work- 
ing out the destiny of their race and tribe. To live was to 
live tribally, nationally, religiously, in other words to live 
as a community in conjunction with the divine powers 
around them. 

Their literature is therefore national rather than indi- 
vidual. And putting these three facts together, that their 
literature is poetical, that it is national, and also religious, 
it is not strange that we find much of their poetry national 
poetry, — public songs, hymns, and prayers, expressing their 
national life, a patriotism shot through with religion. 

This is why scholars have remarked upon the wide dif- 
ference between English religious poetry, much of which is 
considered "rubbish" poetically, and the really great re- 
ligious poetry of the Bible. Mr. Newbolt says,^ "This union 
of the fervor of patriotism with the fervor of moral aspira- 
tion produced a poetry which is to all our English liturgical 
poetry as a great and sonorous bell is to the vague whistle 
of the wind. It rings to the height of heaven, but it was 
cast in the bowels of earth. Therefore it has in all genera- 
tions moved men as no other poetry has ever moved them. 
Before our society can hope to produce such poetry as this, 
we must learn to clear our vision and see, as we hardly see 
at present, what is the true nature of the religious ideal and 
how it is related to our common life." 

It is this very rare threefold combination of patriotic 
and social values with high ethical ideals and both of these 
with the consciousness of God which has given Hebrew 
poetry its satisfying and enduring qualities. Compare, for 

3 A New Study of English Poetry. 



124 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

example, Hosea, who was the Old Testament poet-prophet 
of Love, with the classic hymn of Saint Bernard, "J^sus, the 
very thought of Thee, with sweetness fills my breast," and 
immediately the contrast is very vivid between the limited, 
individualistic application of the latter and the broad, na- 
tion-wide significance of the former. Beautiful as Saint 
Bernard's hymn is as an expression of personal gratitude and 
aspiration, it cannot begin to express the religious view of 
our age as does Hosea. And this is true of the majority of 
our own English hymns as well as of the Latin, although the 
best of them have caught the broader note of the ancient 
psalmist. To keep religious poetry from the dryness of 
didacticism on the one hand and from an unhealthy selfish 
sentimentalism on the other, it is quite necessary that these 
three factors should be present. In no poetry do we find 
such a natural welding of these three as in the Old Testa- 
ment. 

Another observation should be made. The poetical genius 
of the Hebrews was a lyrical genius, and we do therefore 
have the personal element present very decidedly. It is this 
that makes the lyric so gripping, but in Biblical lyrics it is 
the individual's aspirations and desires expressed in com- 
munal terms. The individual and his soul's interest were 
knit into his national and religious interests. And so even 
th§ Twenty-third Psalm, and the Fifty-first Psalm, while 
purely lyrical and very definitely personal are scarcely to be 
distinguished in sentiment from the national appeal in Isaiah 
1 : 16-18. Even personal grief over the dead had so much 
in it of communal significance that the prophet could slip 
most naturally into the metrical form of the dirge when 
he lamented over Israel's national decay. He mourned the 
death of the nation as vividly and expressively as he would 
mourn a death in his own family. While we recognize a 
royal marriage to be a national event, it was also a religious 
event with the Hebrews and the "Royal Marriage Song" is 
found in the Hebrew hymn book. So also is what is called 
the "Ruler's Oath of Office." Dedicating oneself to public 
service is not a prosaic nor a secular event, it is fraught 



HEBREW POETRY 125 

with all that is highly imaginative, poetic, and religious, and 
should be expressed in poetry. 

Lyric poetry most often celebrates the great passion of 
love, for there is nothing that so takes hold of the very roots 
of our being as our power to love. Personality itself seems 
to emerge from a great ocean of attraction and repulsion, 
of Love and of Hate. The joys and the pains which make 
us conscious of ourselves are but the effects of these power- 
ful currents within us. Our outbursts of such joy or sorrow 
make the lyric. Why then is a religious lyric at its best the 
very acme of lyrical expression and yet in constant danger 
of falling to a mediocre sentimentaHsm ? Sentimentalism 
follows unreality, imitation, and unwholesome partiality; 
true religion mounts up with wings like eagles and enters in 
very truth the gates of heaven. Doctor Van Dyke has thus 
expressed the reason for the enduring power of Biblical 
lyrics. He says, "The true mission of poetry is to increase 
joy. There is no perfect joy without love. Therefore love- 
poetry is the best. But the highest of all love-poetry is that 
which celebrates with the Psalms, 

'That love which is and was 
My Father and my Brother and my God.'" 

Moreover, the dramas of life are not all centered in per- 
sonal tragedy. There is national tragedy as well, and a 
people whose personal experience is so interwoven with 
their national experience as that of the Hebrews, can pro- 
duce without any artificial strain a prophetic and poetical 
book like that of Hosea, whose personal tragedy is only one 
little point in the whole cycle of national tragedies. In the 
second and third chapters the very expressions of the two 
kinds of feeling are so closely interwoven that they can 
scarcely be separated. Again the supreme national trial of 
the Israelites, their captivity, and one of the rich truths 
gleaned from it, is depicted in the book of Jonah in the 
guise of a bitter personal experience, as tragic as oriental 
imagery could express. 



126 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

Thus the dramatic element is a constant factor in Hebrew 
national literature. And when a prophet looks forth from 
his watch-tower to declare what he sees, and he sees a troop, 
horsemen in pairs, a troop of asses, a troop of camels, 
marching at first faintly in the distance and then more dis- 
tinctly, steadily and swiftly approaching, his heart trembles 
within him and he cries like a lion — "Fallen, fallen is Baby- 
lon." * The prophet's sense of the dramatic gives him the 
vision and forces him to express a national message most 
poetically, as if it were his own personal experience. Is there 
anywhere outside the Old Testament such a blending of all 
these qualities, in the most natural manner without the least 
appearance of effort or artifice? 

There is one further outstanding characteristic of Hebrew 
poetry, and that is the poet's love of Nature. We have 
already noted the identification of early peoples with Nature 
so long as they are in the animistic stage. The folk-lore 
period is full of it. A well is addressed as if it had a living 
spirit, the stars in their courses fight for men, the Sun and 
the Moon are adjured to stand still; and even in a later 
period a vineyard is sung about as if it were a real per- 
sonality and the clouds are addressed as if they had it in 
their power to punish the wicked vineyard. This intimacy 
with Nature was preserved long after the folk-lore period 
passed. The Hebrews of the Old Testament were most at 
home out-of-doors. They could sing with a modern poet, 

Mother Earth, by the bright sky above thee, 

1 love thee, O, I love thee ! 

So let me leave thee never, 
But cling to thee forever, 
And hover round thy mountains, 
And flutter round thy fountains, 
And pry into thy roses fresh and red; 
And blush in all thy blushes, 
And flush in all thy flushes, 
And watch when thou art sleeping, 
And weep when thou art weeping. 
And be carried with thy motion, 
As the rivers and the ocean, 
4 Isaiah 21. 



HEBREW POETRY 127 

As the great rocks and the trees are, 
And all the things one sees are — 
O mother, this were glorious life, 
This were not to be dead.^ 

This is a modern occidental poem, characteristically English 
in its meter and rhyme, very different from the Hebrew in 
structure, but quite akin in feeling. Browning certainly 
caught the spirit of David, although David never wrote 
Browning's kind of poetry, when he puts the following 
lines in his mouth — 

Oh, the wild joys of living! the leaping from rock up to rock, 
The strong rending of boughs from the fir-tree, the cool silver 

shock 
Of the plunge in a pool's living water, the hunt of the bear. 
And the sultriness showing the lion is couched in his lair. 
And the meal, the rich dates yellowed over with gold dust divine. 
And the locust-flesh steeped in the pitcher, the full draught of wine, 
And the sleep in the dried river-channel where bulrushes tell 
That the water was wont to go warbling so softly and well. 
How good is man's life, the mere living! how fit to employ 
All the heart and the soul and the senses for ever in joy ! 

That sounds like a modern nature lover out in camp, or on 
a long tramp over the mountains. Was Browning singing 
really of a youth of our own century and race and experi- 
ence, to which he attached the name of David ? We do not 
think so when we study carefully the Old Testament litera- 
ture. What could such phrases as the following signify 
except the most intimate appreciation of all out-of-doors : 

As the hart panteth after the water-brooks. 
So panteth my soul after thee, O God. 

He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: 
As showers that water the earth. 

O Jehovah, my God, Thou art very great ; 
Thou art clothed with honor and majesty: 
Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment ; 
Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain. 

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures ; 
He leadeth me beside still waters. 
8 T. E. Brown, Poems, Alma Mater. 



128 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

Truly the Old Testament poets were steeped in a love of 
Nature. It was the breath of life to them, and most natu- 
rally, for they lived out-of-doors during generations of no- 
madic tent-life, and, when they settled down to stationary 
agricultural habits they still lived out-of-doors. They re- 
joiced in a Feast of Tabernacles or Booths when once a 
year they made themselves shelters of branches from the 
trees and bushes and sang and danced with joy at their 
freedom, remembering subconsciously, at least, their early 
out-of-doors life. During the grape-gathering they made 
themselves such open-air huts or booths in the vineyards and 
removed their entire families thither. During their pil- 
grimages to Jerusalem they camped out on the hillsides un- 
der the stars. 

The interesting thing for us to observe is that this was 
a continuous passion with them throughout their genera- 
tions, whereas it is a recovered love with us, having been 
nearly smothered in the centuries of European formalism 
and scholasticism, and only once again set free in compara- 
tively modern times. Of course literature and life are abso- 
lutely tied up together and when we camp and tramp and 
ride and know our fields and foxes and woods and hills we 
can have a poet who can write Reynard the Fox and 
verses like these. 

Laugh and be merry: remember, in olden time 

God made Heaven and Earth for joy He took in a rhyme. 

Made them, and filled them full with the strong red wine of His 

mirth, 
The splendid joy of the stars: the joy of the Earth. 

So we must laugh and drink from the deep blue cup of the sky, 
Join the jubilant song of the great stars sweeping by, 
Laugh, and battle, and work, and drink of the wine outpoured 
In the dear green earth, the sign of the joy of the Lord. 

and still another who says quite simply and naturally 

I think that I shall never see 
A poem lovely as a tree. 

And yet none of these poems begin to equal in grandeur that 
wonderful description of the war-horse in Job, 



HEBREW POETRY 129 

Hast thou given the horse his might? 

Hast thou clothed his neck with the quivering mane? 

or that pilgrim song of the hills 

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills. 

or the Thunderstorm Psalm. 

The Hebrew poet, then, was mystically, prophetically re- 
ligious, and religiously patriotic; he was dramatic in his 
feeHng and lyrical in his expression; and he loved Nature 
with an intimate understanding and a passionate joy. 

SECTION II : THE STRUCTURE OF HEBREW POETRY 

When the King James Version of the Bible was translated 
the principles upon which Hebrew poetry was constructed 
were undiscovered. It was not until the middle of the 
eighteenth century that Bishop Lowth hit upon its most 
fundamental characteristic, parallelism. This means that 
the rhythm which we feel as we read lines of poetry is due 
to a certain balance, and in the case of Hebrew poetry it 
is the balance of thought contained in the words rather than 
the balance of the number of syllables. This rhythm is 
shown in three main ways, 

(1) Synonymous parallelism, where the second line re- 
peats the thought of the first line only in sHghtly different 
words. 

What is man, that thou are mindful of him? 
And the son of man, that thou visitest him? 

(Psalm 8:4.) 

The law of Jehovah is perfect, restoring the soul: 

The testimony of Jehovah is sure, making wise the simple. 

(Psalm 19:7.) 

(2) Synthetic parallelism, where the second line builds up 
the thought of the first, giving an additional thought on the 
same note. 



130 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

As the hart panteth after the water brooks, 
So panteth my soul after Thee, O God. 

(Psalm 42:1.) 

(3) Antithetic parallelism, where the second line gives 
the direct opposite of the first. 

A wise son heareth his father's instruction; 
But a scoffer heareth not rebuke. 

(Proverbs 13:1.) 

This form is found very frequently in the book of Proverbs 
where the second line is introduced most often by but or 
than. 

Better is a dinner of herbs where love is 
Than a stalled ox and hatred therewith. 

(Proverbs 15:17.) 

There are variations of these three types. One is common 
enough to be called a fourth type, namely, 

(4) Stair-like parallelism, where the second line repeats a 
few words of the first and then adds others, and thus the 
third and fourth lines may proceed to a climax. 

Till the people pass over, O Jehovah, 

Till the people pass over, that thou hast purchased. 

(Exodus 15 : 16.) 

Jehovah, how are mine adversaries increased I 
Many are they that rise up against me. 
Many there are that say of my soul, 
'There is no help for him in God.* 

(Psalm 3:1, 2.) 

In Hebrew poetry, then, there is a certain balance in the 
words and the length of sentences, but the real secret of the 
rhythmic effect is in the rhythm of thought. Moreover, 
a line is not measured by the number of syllables but by 
the number of stresses or accents. If a line scans it is an 
accident. Three accents to a line is the commonest form 
and the two-line parallel or couplet is the norm. The most 
frequent meter is 3 + 3, but 2 + 2 is often found and there 
are various combinations, such as 3 + 2 and 4 -|- 4. There 



HEBREW POETRY 131 

is sometimes a three-line group or tristich instead of a 
couplet or distich. When four, five, six and larger groups 
of lines are found they are combinations of distichs and 
tristichs. Rhyme is hardly ever present, although there are 
a few exceptions in the Old Testament. 

This balance of structure is not confined to single lines 
but enters into the effect of the entire poem in the division 
of its parts. These parts are called strophes, but the word 
differs slightly from the meaning it has in English poetry, 
where it stands for a verse unit or a stanza of a certain 
number of lines of definite length. A strophe in Hebrew 
poetry means a division of thought, and the different 
strophes in a single poem may vary greatly in length. The 
four-line strophe is the commonest, but there may be a six- 
line or a seven-line stanza or even a ten-line one. If the 
stanzas are long there is often a refrain at the end of each 
or at both the beginning and the end. These are the com- 
monest forms : 

3 + 3 or 2 + 2 or 4 + 4 
3 + 3 2 + 2 4 + 4 

Following is an example of 2 + 2 in Amos 3:12 as ar- 
ranged by Bernhard Duhm which he calls "a mocking or 
light dance meter." 

As a shepherd saves 

Out of a lion's jaws 

Two bits of bones 

Or a rag of an ear, 

So shall be saved 

The Israelites, 

Those who are sitting there 

In Samaria 

In the corner of the couch, 

On the cushion of the divan. « 

The kinah or dirge rhythm is 3 + 2. The lines are alter- 

3 + 2 
nately longer and shorter, divided by a stop; the first line 
is given with a rising, the second with a falling cadence. 

6 See Duhm, B., The Twelve Prophets. 



132 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

The book of Lamentations offers excellent examples. For 
instance — 

From heaven to earth hath he hurled 

The pomp of Israel. 



They sit on the ground and are dumb 
The elders of Zion. 

They who were nourished in scarlet 
Huddle on ashheaps. 

Their skin drawn tight on their bones, 
Dry as a stickJ 



(2:1) 
(2:10) 

(4:5>- 
(4:8) 



Sometimes the following combinations of accents are 

found 

3 + 3 or 3 + 2 or 3+2 
3 + 3 3 + 2 3 + 2 

3 + 3 + 3 3 + 2 + 3 3 + 3 + 3 

Following is an example of 3 + 2 + 2 in Solomon's Song, 

From Lebanon came my bride, 
With me from Lebanon, 
From the dens of lions. 

The freedom which the Hebrew poet took with the length 
of his stanza is in favor of rather than contrary to essential 
poetic feeling. "It is not absurd to speak of the natural 
*size' of poetic thoughts. Pope, for instance, often works 
with ideas of couplet size^ just as Martial sometimes amused 
himself with ideas of a still smaller epigram size, or Omar 
Khayyam with thoughts and fancies that come in quatrain 
sizes. Many sonnets fail of effectiveness because the con- 
tained thought is too scanty or too full to receive adequate 
expression in the fourteen lines demanded by the traditional 
sonnet form. They are sometimes only quatrain ideas, 
blown up big with words to fill out the fourteen lines, or, 
on the contrary, as often with the Elizabethans, they are 
whole odes or elegies, remorselessly packed into the fashion- 
able fourteen-line limit. No one who has given attention to 
the normal length of phrases and sentences doubts that there 

7 See G. A. Smith's translation — Jerusalem. Vol. II. 



HEBREW POETRY 133 

are natural 'breathfuls' of words corresponding to the units 
of ideas; and when ideas are organized by emotion, there 
are waves, gusts, or ripples of words, matching the waves 
of feeling. In the ideal poetic 'pattern' these waves of idea, 
feeling and rhythmic speech would coincide more or less 
completely." ® 

Psalm 29 is a good example for analysis. The first four 
lines are the prelude to the entire poem, each line having 
four accents. It is synonymous and stairlike. The last four 
lines form the postlude and this stanza is of similar struc- 
ture. The body of the poem is made up of the description 
of the storm (vv. 3-9) and includes three stanzas of four 
lines each. There is apparently an extra line in verse 9 
and since this line introduces the temple, which seems in- 
congruous with a storm and the natural scenery of the rest 
of the poem, it is thought to have been added later when 
the temple service had become very important and when 
this may have been sung in the temple as a hymn. The bal- 
ance of thought is apparent in all these divisions. 

Psalm 23 is a poem about which there is some discussion 
as to its strophic form, whether there are two stanzas or 
three. If two, then verses 1-4 are the first, describing the 
shepherd scene; verses 5-6 are the second with the picture 
of the banquet. If there are three, then the first is l-3a 
describing a shepherd, the second is 3b-4 describing a guide, 
and the third 5-6 describing a host. 

Psalm 13 is one in which the division of thought is quite 
plain. There are three stanzas (1) verses 1-2 expressing 
sorrow, (2) verses 3-4, a prayer, (3), verses 5-6 expressing 
joyful triumph. There have evidently been some additions 
which have destroyed the symmetry within the strophes 
and an omission of one line at the end, which is found in 
the Septuagint translation of this Psalm, the last couplet 
reading thus : 

I sing unto Yahweh for his bounty towards me, 
I give praise to the name of Yahweh most high.^ 

8 Bliss Perry, A Study of Poetry. 

9 See E. G. King, Early Religious Poetry of the Hebrews, 



134 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

Psalm 42 shows a refrain at the end of each strophe, in 
verse 5 and verse IL Isaiah 9:8-10:4 has a refrain at 
the close of each paragraph, the last sentence in verses 12, 
17, 21, and 10:4. Since this is precisely the same refrain 
as is found at the end of 5 : 24-25 it is thought that these 
two passages belong together and originally made one dra- 
matic, oratorical poem. 

In post-exilic days the hymns for temple worship were 
arranged for antiphonal singing. Psalm 136 is a very for- 
mal hymn of this sort. The balance of thought is exceed- 
ingly simple but the repetitions are very numerous and to 
us become monotonous. In earlier days also there was 
doubtless something of the antiphonal character in the sing- 
ing, but in a much more natural and spontaneous manner. 
Very likely Psalm 24 in the last section, beginning with 
verse 7, illustrates this. This is supposed to be one of the 
earliest psalms we have, possibly used when David took the 
ancient city of Jerusalem for the capital of his kingdom. 
The taking of it in the name of Yahweh, the King of Glory, 
was most dramatically represented by a procession of peo- 
ple marching up the hill, headed by a choir which chal- 
lenges the ancient gates to open. A choir within or a solo- 
ist on the wall questions the right of this King to enter, 
until satisfied by the proper answers from the choir without. 

The following arrangement brings out the balance of 
parts and shows also the dramatic effect. 

Choir without 

Lift up your heads, O ye gates ; 

And be ye lifted up, ye ancient doors: 

And the King of glory shall come in. 

Soloist or choir within 

Who is this King of glory? 

Response from whole congregation 

The Lord strong and mighty. 
The Lord mighty in battle. 

Choir without once more 

Lift up your heads, O ye gates ; 
Yea, lift them up, ye ancient doors : 
And the King of glory will come in. 



HEBREW POETRY 135 

Soloist or choir within 

Who is this King of glory? 

Congregation without 

The Lord of hosts, 

He is the King of glory .^^ 

All of this shows how early poetry as well as the elaborate 
and even artificial structure of late liturgical hymns was 
based upon the primitive feeling for rhythm, especially 
rhythm of thought. 

Parallelism while the most characteristic mark of Hebrew 
poetry, was not peculiar to the Hebrews. It is found in 
old Babylonian literature and other Semitic languages. 
There is not much of it in classic Arabic but a little among 
the Egyptians. All primitive poetry shows this tendency. 
Among the early Arabians it was the motion of the horse 
or camel on which they made their long desert journeys 
which was the origin of the rhythm of their songs. To-day 
around their campfires after a day's ride the Bedouin im- 
provise verses describing their experiences, accompanying 
their voices with bodily motions. This, of course, goes 
back to folk-song where the measure is supposed to be 
caused by the beat of the dancer's feet. Any one who has 
watched a group of our negroes marching along the road 
to a baptism remembers well the weird chant accompanied 
by the swaying back and forth of the entire mass of people. 
The old kinah or dirge measure originated probably in 
some such manner. Thoreau said, "The poet writes the 
history of his own body," and Professor Bliss Perry, adds, 
*'The same truth is apparent as we pass from the individual 
poet to the poetic literature of his race. Here too is the 
stamp of bodily history. Hebrew poetry, as is well known, 
is always expressing emotion in terms of bodily sensation." ^^ 

The likeness to Hebrew parallelism in some of our own 
English couplets is pointed out by Doctor George Adam 
Smith/2 gyj^j^ ^g^ 

10 This is from the Authorized Version with the exception of "ancient" for 
"everlasting," which is a more accurate translation, the city being so old that 
no one knew its antiquity. The second line of the gth verse is also more 
rhythmically translated than in the authorized version. 

11 A Study of Poetry. 

12 Early Hebrew Poetry. 



136 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

Old King Cole was a merry old soul 
And a merry old soul was he. 

This is synonymous. The following is synthetic: 

I told my love, I told my love, 
I told her all my heart. 

And he says, "The fact is, poetry was primitively the art of 
saying the same beautiful things over and over again in 
similarly charming ways, which rhymed and sang back to 
each other not in sound only but in sense as well. 'Deep 
calleth unto deep,' tree to tree, bird to bird all over the 
world. . . . The poet is more careful at first that they are 
balanced in meaning than in rhythm, though as his art 
develops he controls this also." 

If paralleHsm is a universal instinct, born of a feeling for 
the rhythm of life, the interesting fact for us is that the 
Hebrews perfected it beyond any other people. To-day the 
''free verse" writers are claiming kinship with these Bibli- 
cal poets. A little later we will see wherein such likeness 
may lie. Just now we should bear in mind that the key to 
Biblical poetry is rhythm of thought. Where then does 
prose stop and poetry begin? It seems hard to tell some- 
times. More and more scholars have been arriving at the 
conclusion that much of the prophetic material which used 
to be considered prose is really poetry. They have always 
considered it very lofty prose, prose-poetry it has often been 
called. Mr. Newbolt in commenting on John Ruskin com- 
pares his style with that of Amos and Isaiah and says, 
"The elevation of mood beyond a certain point tends to 
force the utterance into a marked rhythm." Great thoughts 
certainly need adequate expression, beautiful thoughts beau- 
tiful expression. Flaubert and his school of thinkers say 
"there is no such thing as beautiful thought without beau- 
tiful form." However, there may be quite perfect and 
beautiful form with no great thought beneath, whereas a 
great thought may be able to be perceived underneath a 
very limping expression. Perhaps this is the fundamental 



HEBREW POETRY 137 

difference between modem *'free verse" and Biblical poetry, 
not that the way of expressing rhythm is different but that 
the thought of the one is profound and spiritually deep, 
while the other deals more with the surface images of this 
material world. 

Another way of distinguishing between prose and poetry 
is as to the kind of thought expressed. Mr. Newbolt as- 
serts that "poetry is the expression in human language of 
our intuitions: prose is the expression of our judgments." 
He would have judgments to do with scientific reasoning 
upon material facts. Intuition goes deeper than that, he 
thinks. "Poetry is the first and last of all knowledge— it 
is as immortal as the heart of man. ... I am convinced 
that the supreme artistic power is that of drawing upon a 
spirit which lies below the separate personality, a fellowship 
which is not limited by the material form of life. . . . The 
magical phrases or rhythms of a poem, which alone stir the 
human spirit deeply, are those which so remind us of life, 
and so revive life in us, that whether for pleasure or for 
pain we may have life more abundantly." It is, then, a 
profound thought seeking to express itself in the natural 
rhythms of life which makes great poetry, and Hebrew 
poetry has proved itself great, for even when largely hidden 
under a prose form and not understood in the technical 
sense as poetry, it was really recognized as such in its effect 
upon the mind and spirit of man, even in a translation. 

How then did scholars discover the marks of a poetic 
form when the Hebrew text was not written so that the eye 
could readily detect the verse structure? One of the first 
things observed was that there is a different order of words 
in certain sections from the normal prose; then that there 
are numerous ellipses and compressions, that words are 
used which are archaic for the particular period in which 
the section is found, that more musical forms are used than 
the ordinary diction, that musical words are put in promi- 
nent positions. With all these irregularities of arrange- 
ment there results such a distribution of accents or stresses 
that a rhythmical effect is produced when the line is read. 



1S8 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

Add to this the discovery of the thought scheme, or parallel- 
ism, in the sequence of lines, and the key to Hebrew poetry 
is found. 

There is one other prominent characteristic which should 
be observed and that is the poet's love for verbal images. 
This indeed is natural to all Hebrew writers, and yet there 
is a difference between the more prosaic and literally minded 
writers and the more poetic image makers. Professor Bliss 
Perry thinks that the power to make verbal images is the 
characteristic of the poet, that the intuitional faculty which 
produces the seer — the sense of relations, the power to feel 
acutely — is found in all people with the artistic tempera- 
ment, however they may express themselves, but that the 
poet possesses exclusively as his own the power of imagina- 
tion which can turn words into pictures. "The real dif- 
ference between the poet and other men is rather to be 
traced in his capacity for making and employing verbal 
images of a certain kind, and combining these images into 
rhythmical and metrical designs. . . . The plasticity of the 
world as it appears to the mind of the poet is clearly evi- 
denced by the swarm of images which present themselves 
to the poet's consciousness." 

Although verbal imagery seems, therefore, to be char- 
acteristic of all poets, to-day the poets of the new school are 
called "imagists," as if they especially appropriated this 
faculty. It is true that their concentration of attention upon 
producing realistic pictures has resulted in very vivid images 
but the subject matter for such pictures is for the most 
part "the report of retinal, auditory or tactile images and 
nothing more. . . . The radical defect of imagist verse, 
as such, is in its lack of general ideas." ^^ 

The Hebrew poets were not behind in this power to report 
in words the pictures made upon the senses by experiences 
in life. 

A student of the Hebrew language recognizes at once 
the highly metaphorical character of the most ordinary 

13 Bliss Perry, A Study of Poetry. 



HEBREW POETRY 139 

utterance.^* Following are some of the verbs which are 
used to express spiritual states or activities by physical acts : 

to cut meaning to decide 

to mould meaning to create 

to stroke one's face meaning to entreat 

to stretch out the hands meaning to pray 

to walk in the way meaning to follow 

to hear meaning to obey 

to see meaning to understand 

to be fat meaning to be stupid 

to be hard of heart meaning to be obtuse 

to be stiff-necked meaning to be proud 

to breathe hard through the nostrils meaning to he angry 

or to break in pieces 
(The noun corresponding to this latter verb means 

splinters.) 
Smelling is used to describe pleasure. 

It is indeed true, however, that some of their poetry 
seems purely sensuous like the following example in the 
Song of Songs: 

I rose up to open to my beloved ; 
And my hands dropped with myrrh, 
And my fingers with liquid myrrh, 
Upon the handles of the bolt. 

or this: 

Who is she that looketh forth as the morning. 

Fair as the moon, 

Clear as the sun, 

Terrible as an army with banners? 

But the Song of Songs is a great exception to Biblical 
poetry so far as its thought is concerned. It is the lightest 
and most materialistic of all the poetry to be found in the 

14 In. the middle of the nineteenth century the brilliant French scholar, 
Renan, called attention to this characteristic of the Hebrew language, thus 
helping on the work begun by Bishop Lowth in bringing to light the essen- 
tially poetic qualities of Hebrew style. 



140 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

Bible. It offers indeed such a contrast to the rest that 
many people from rabbinical times down to the present 
have questioned its place in Scripture. It reveals the fact 
that the Hebrews were capable of all sorts of poetry but 
that the choice collection of their literature which has been 
preserved to us in the Bible was for the most part of a 
lofty tone, — that its uplifting and enduring character was 
due to its depth of thought, its profound religious intuition, 
rather than to the mere power of making pictures. 

Mrs. Wilkinson in her chapter upon "Images and Sym- 
bols" ^^ gives a unique reason for the religious thought of 
the Bible thus being so graphically presented. We quote at 
length for it is very interesting: *'As we all know, the 
ancient Hebrews w'ere forbidden by their religion to make 
graven images of persons or animals. This may have been 
the first Puritanical prohibition against the arts of painting 
and sculpture. But unlike many of our Puritanical pro- 
hibitions against the arts, it may have served a good pur- 
pose. The Hebrews were a small people, numerically, liv- 
ing in a small country, surrounded by other peoples whose 
worship was sensual and crude. Perhaps they worshipped 
Jahveh more spiritually and cleanly because they were not 
permitted to make an image of Him, or of the creatures 
made in His image. Perhaps that is one reason why the 
Hebrews gave the world a monotheistic religion, a religion 
spiritually perceived. . . . 

"Now in all strong races the desire to give form and 
substance to ideas and emotions is strong and keenly felt. 
The Hebrews were no exception to this rule, and the images 
which they were not allozi'ed to make with their fingers 
they made Zinth their minds ^^ and gave to the world in a 
literature strong and clear and beautiful. The reader can- 
not find, I suppose, in all the literature written or rewritten 
in our language, a more excellent description of old age 
than that in Ecclesiastes. It is a superb description because 
it is a universal truth stated in symbols that are absolutely 

15 New Voices. 

16 Italics are not in the original. 



HEBREW POETRY 141 

true and appropriate. The majesty of these metaphors has 
given this passage everlasting Hfe. 

(Ecclesiastes 12 : 1-7) Remember also thy Creator in the days of 
thy youth, before the evil days come, and the years draw nigh, 
when thou shah say, I have no pleasure in them ; before the sun, 
and the light, and the moon, and the stars, are darkened, and the 
clouds return after the rain; in the day when the keepers of the 
house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and 
the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of 
the windows shall be darkened, and the doors shall be shut in the 
street ; when the sound of the grinding is low, and one shall rise 
up at the voice of a bird, and all the daughters of music shall be 
brought low; yea, they shall be afraid of that which is high, and 
terrors shall be in the way ; and the almond-tree shall blossom, and 
the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail ; because 
man goeth to his everlasting home, and the mourners go about the 
streets: before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is 
broken, or the pitcher is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken 
at the cistern, and the dust returneth to the earth as it was, and the 
spirit returneth unto God who gave it. 

"Let us take a single verse of this chapter and translate 
it into plain prose statement. Instead of saying *In the 
days when the keepers of the house shall tremble/ let us 
say, Tn the days when a man's arms have grown weak'; 
instead of 'and the strong men shall bow themselves,' let us 
say, 'When the legs are bent' ; instead of 'and the grinders 
shall cease because they are few,' 'when a man is losing 
his teeth and his ability to masticate'; and instead of 'and 
those that look out of the windows be darkened,' 'when a 
man grows blind.' Having done this we find that we have 
stated a scientific fact. But we have stated it quite un- 
feelingly. And therefore, when we say it in this fashion, 
we awaken no sense of wistfulness, fear, tenderness, regret 
or compassion in the reader. Whereas the great original, 
by its transcendent beauty and truth imaginatively expressed, 
reaches our minds and hearts and abides with us." Thus 
does a critic, who appreciates the N'ew Voices in a dis- 
criminating way, point out the high value of Hebrew 
imagery. 

And one thing more the Hebrew poet did, he drew his 
pictures with a few bold strokes and left them to work in 



142 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

the mind. In other words he was wonderfully concise and 
suggestive in his best moods, not verbose and didactic. For 
example, there could be no more graphic picture of the 
progress of a battle than that in Nahum 3, and notice it is 
conciseness itself, only three verses long: 

Woe to the City of Blood ! 
Full of lies and plunder ! 
There is no limit to the spoil. 

The noise of the whip, 

The noise of the rattling of wheels, 

And prancing horses, 

And bounding chariots, 

The horsemen mounting, 

And the flashing sword, 

And the glitt'ring spear, 

And a multitude of slain. 

And a great heap of corpses, 

And there is no end of bodies ; 

They stumble upon their bodies. 

Another brief but most vivid description of the defeat of 
an army is drawn in the wonderful little poem at the close 
of the seventeenth chapter of Isaiah, where the noisy terror 
of the approaching army is likened to the booming of the 
waves on the harborless coast, and their swift flight to the 
blowing of the chafiF from an out-of-doors threshing-floorr 
when a whirlwind strikes it. 

Ah! the booming of the peoples, the multitudes! 

Like the booming of the seas they boom. 

And the rushing of the nations, 

Like the rushing of mighty waters they rush : 

But Yahweh rebuketh him 

And he fleeth afar off, and is chased 

Like the chaff on the mountains, before the wind, 

And like whirling dust before the whirlwind. i" 

This is the text of Byron's famous Destruction of Senna- 
charih, 

The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold. 
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold. 

17 See translations by G. A. Smith and G. B. Gray. 



HEBREW POETRY 143 

But he takes twenty-four lines to tell what the Old Testa- 
ment writer pictured in eight lines. 

This last example shows how the Old Testament loved 
contrast: the dark and the light, sorrow and joy, wicked- 
ness and uprightness, punishment and salvation, were placed 
sharply against one another to make each the more vivid. 
Thus we have the third psalm which is "a drama in two 
scenes," a night scene of discouragement, a morning picture 
of triumphant courage. The prophet Isaiah is continually 
balancing despair with hope, and Hosea closes his sad por- 
trayal of a profligate people with the beautiful and tender 
promise of a forgiven and regenerated Israel. This is only 
the principle of the characteristic antithetic parallel carried 
out to a more elaborate degree. 

Musical devices were sometimes employed. Rhyme was 
not very frequent, as we have said, but alliteration and 
onomatopoeia were favorites. Compare for example the 
imitation of the sound of the booming waves in the more 
correct translations of the seventeenth of Isaiah ^^ with 
Lowell's Pictures from Appledore: 

Ribs of rock that seaward jut, 

Granite shoulders and boulders and snags, 

Round which, though the winds in heaven be shut, 

The nightmared ocean murmurs and yearns, 

Welters, and swashes, and tosses, and turns. 

Compare this also with the pounding of the horses' hoofs 
as they tried to escape in Deborah's Song: 

Then pounded the hoofs of the horses, 

With the galloping, galloping of their powerful steeds. 

Compare the assonance of Samson's rhyme: 

With the jawbone of an ass 
They massed a mass. 

and the alliteration of Micah's prophecy: 

Tell it not in Tell-town, 
In Weep-town weep. 

18 As given above. 



144 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

with Drinkwater's description of falling leaves: 

Spinning, spinning, spun and sped. 

or Masefield's Song o' Shipwreck: 

He lolled on a bollard, a sun-burned son of the sea. 

or Milton's lines : 

Behemoth, biggest-born of earth. 
Upheaved his vastness. 

Of course the imitation of a translator is only a feeble 
attempt to convey the rhythm of sounds in the original 
language. And we may well question whether the frequent 
forms of alliteration and assonance are not quite adequate 
substitutes for our more favorite form of end-rhyme. 
"Rhyme is a gratification of expectation, like a repetition 
of a chord in music or of colors in a rug. As long as the 
ear receives the pleasure afforded by accordant sound, any 
of the various historical forms of rhyme may serve." ^^ It 
may be alliteration, assonance, or "end-rhyme." 

There are then six main characteristics of the structure 
of Hebrew poetry, rhythm of thought which is brought out 
through parallelism and through the strophic form ; a meter 
of accent rather than of the number of syllables; a verbal 
imagery which is very vivid; a love of conciseness; a love 
of contrast; a frequent use of alliteration and assonance 
and rarely of end-rhyme. 

Note on Musical Terms Used in the Psalms 

It must be remembered that the title inserted at the be- 
ginning of the psalm does not belong to the original poem 
but was added later, in many cases after the song had begun 
to be used in the service of worship. In those titles and at 
certain points within the psalm are terms which were in- 
serted for a variety of reasons. Some of them denote the 

19 Bliss Perry, A Study of Poetry. 



HEBREW POETRY 145 

original collection of hymns from which a particular psalm 
was taken, for the five hymn books in the Psalter were 
made up, as our hymn books of to-day, by drawing from 
older collections. The word "song" (as in the title of 
Psalm 45, Numbers 21: 17, Isaiah 5:1) is very early and 
means an ode; *'miktam" (as in the title of Psalm 16) 
means literally a *'golden" piece, a choice hymn. There 
are seven of these which are very artistic in form and choice 
in content; probably there were others of this collection 
which have been lost. Our word *'psalm" comes from the 
Greek psalmos, which was the translation of the Septuagint 
for the Hebrew mizmor and which meant a song to be used 
in public worship. ^'Maskil" (as in the title of Psalm 32) 
means a meditative poem, and the psalms which bear this 
title came from an early source. The words "psalm of 
David" are found in the title of seventy-four and they are 
most of them prayers. This collection, then, was an early 
prayer book. Modern scholars think they could not all 
have been written by David but that thq book was given his 
name because he wrote some of the very earliest and best 
ones. There are thirteen titles which make reference to 
some incidents in his life and therefore those psalms are 
thought by some to have been written by him, but this is 
not an accurate test since the titles are additions. The 
oldest psalms according to the three tests, historical refer- 
ences, literary style, and content of thought, are found to 
be Psalms 7, 13, 18, 23, 24:7-10, 60: 1-4, 110, which were 
written doubtless in the time of the beginning of the mon- 
archy. 

Then there are names which evidently refer to singers 
or choir leaders. Perhaps these hymns were dedicated to 
them or the collection was made by them. Such are "sons 
of Korah" and "Asaph" and "for the chief musician." 

Again there are terms denoting musical instruction as to 
tunes, time to be sung, musical accompaniments, kind of 
voices, and place for the doxology. (a) Tunes — Psalms 
56 and 60 illustrate this ; the title of Psalm 56 says "set 
to Jonath elem rehokim or as the margin translates it — 



146 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

"The dove of the distant terebinths" ; the title of Psalm 60 
says **set to Shushan Ediith" or "The lily of testimony." 
This is like our hymn books saying "sing to the tune of 
^Rock of Ages/ " 

(b) Occasions — Psalm 8 illustrates this, "Gittith" mean- 
ing a harvest song. "Hallel" in Psalm 111 and others means 
a song of praise. "For the thank-offering" is in the title of 
Psalm 100, denoting a particular service. 

(c) Doxologies or benedictions close each hymn book 
Psalms 41 : 13 ; 72 : 18, 19 ; 89 : 52 ; 106 : 48. Psalm 150 is a 
doxology of six verses closing the Psalter. 

(d) Musical accompaniments — "Nehiloth" in the title of 
Psalm 5 means probably the flute. In the title of Psalm 
4 the words translated "on stringed instruments" mean 
probably the lyre or harp. 

(e) Kind of voices — The word "Sheminith" in the title of 
Psalm 6 means "the eighth" or "on the octave." This 
psalm is therefore supposed to be intended for bass voices 
on the lower octave. "Alamoth" in the title of Psalm 46 
is considered to mean for sopranos, but women were not 
allowed to take part in the service, therefore this perhaps 
was meant for boys' voices. 

(f) Pause for doxology. The word selah often inserted 
in the body of the psalm is thought to mark a break when 
a doxology would be appropriate, since the word "selah" 
means "lift up," that is probably "lift up the voice in 
praise." This is like our singing the "Gloria" or the 
"Amen" at the proper place. 

BOOKS TO CONSULT 

Briggs, Psahns, International Critical Commentary, Introduction. 
Gordo?.', A. R., The Poets of the Old Testament, Ch. VI, The Psalter. 
Hastings' Dictionary of Bible — article : Poetry. 
Encyclopedia Biblica — article: Poetry. 



HEBREW POETRY 147 

SECTION III : EXAMPLES 

PATRIOTIC POETRY 
EARLY PATRIOTIC SONGS 

National consciousness does not appear full-fledged at 
first in the history of any people. A nation's life passes 
through many stages just as the life of the individual does. 
A child does not come to full consciousness of what he is 
and the part he has to play for many years; indeed after 
the first realization of himself as an individual member of 
the family group there are many subsequent realizations 
which dawn upon him by degrees. So it is with a nation. 
Consequently, in reading the ancient records of the Old 
Testament we must remember two things : first, that they 
were written after the tribes had become a nation and the 
consciousness of their destiny had arrived, and that there 
is always a tendency to assume that what later generations 
take for granted was taken for granted by their forbears; 
and second, that there are many evidences even in the 
records themselves that the national ideal was at first only 
a tiny germ, small as a mustard seed, although destined to 
grow to be great and far-reaching. 

We here present some of those germs of the national 
consciousness which were later to develop into real national 
ideals of a lofty character. They were naturally cast in 
poetic form, first because they were primitive and second 
because the Hebrew genius was a poetic genius. 

The Nation's Birth Song, Genesis 25 : 23. 

And Yahweh said unto her, 
Two nations are in thy womb 
Two peoples part from thy bowels ; 
People shall crush down people; 
The elder shall serve the younger. 

It is quite obvious here that the birth of two infants from 
the same womb refers to the birth of two nations or tribes 



148 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

who became hostile to one another, the one attempting to 
subdue the other. It was not the first one to appear who 
became the strongest in the end but on the contrary it was 
the younger. This verse occurs imbedded in the story of 
Rebekah, Isaac's wife, at the birth of the twin sons, Jacob 
and Esau. It is quite evident that the verse itself refers 
to the two nations, that of the Israelites and that of the 
Edomites, tribes living adjacent to one another, known to 
be of the same stock, but always jealous and hateful in their 
attitude to each other. The Israelites finally became the 
more important and handed down to future generations 
whatever was worthy of immortality. The poetic form of 
the lines in the midst of this tale indicates that they were 
much earlier than the prose story built around them. In- 
deed this verse belongs to the period of folk-poetry, later 
than the "Song of the Sword" and the "Song of the Well" 
but representing the dawning of national feeling amidst the 
birth-struggles of tribal rivalry. 

Earlier even than this was the so-called 

Blessing of Noah, Genesis 9 : 25-27. 

Cursed be Canaan! 

Slave of slaves let him be to his brethren! 

Yahweh bless Shem's tents ; 

And let Canaan be his slave! 

God enlarge Japheth! 

His dwelling be Shem's tents ; 

And let Canaan be his slave ! 20 

This also is printed as poetry in our Revised Version but 
the meter is not brought out so well as in later translations. 
To the same period as the first, that of the early mon- 
archy, belongs 

Isaac*s Blessing, Genesis 27 : 27-29. 

See, the scent of my son, 

As the scent of a plentiful field, 

20 See A. R. Gordon, The Poets of the Old Testament, for traaslations of 
til is and previous poem. 



HEBREW POETRY 14-9 

Which Yahweh hath blessed. 

Give thee God from heaven's dew, 

And from fats of the earth, 

Wealth of corn and wine I 

Serve thee the tribes. 

Bow to thee peoples ! 

Be lord to thy brothers. 

Thy mother's sons bow to thee 1 

Who curse thee be cursed, 

And who bless thee be blessed ! 21 

The meter of this poem is mixed, some lines having two 
and some three stresses. It is quite apparent that it has 
a national meaning in verse 29. 

The Blessing of Joseph 

In Genesis 49 and Deuteronomy 33 we have what are 
called "Jacob's Blessing" and "Moses' Blessing." The 
various tribes are mentioned and Jacob, the patriarch, and 
Moses, the deliverer, are represented as pronouncing these 
oracles. It was a custom for fathers to gather their sons 
about them at their death beds and pronounce blessings on 
their future. But that these particular oracles were pro- 
nounced by Jacob and Moses seems scarcely possible. The 
setting of the poems and the words employed indicate a 
date of composition after the tribes were well settled in 
Canaan.. Perhaps different parts were composed at dif- 
ferent times. The blessing upon Joseph evidently stands 
for a blessing upon the Northern Kingdom or Ephraim, 
as that kingdom was often called, the two tribes, Ephraim 
and Manasseh, representing the two sons of Joseph. The 
similarities of this section of the two poems cause scholars 
to feel that this part at least was drawn from a common 
source, probably one of the earliest national poems Israel 
composed. It may have existed even earlier than the date 
of the Ephraimite kingdom, in the time of the Judges when 
two kingdoms were unthought of, or of David when the 
tribes had not yet settled down to be a nation. The poet 
may have taken a tradition of the blessing of the patriarch 
and cast it in this form. 

21 G. A. Smith's translation. 



150 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

Genesis 49 : 22 ff . 

A fruitful bough is Joseph, 

A fruitful bough by a spring ; 

With off-shoots o'ermounting the wall. 

And they bitterly vexed him and shot, 
And the archers pursued him with hate: 
But his bow abode in strength, 
And his arms and hands were made strong. 
By the hands of the Mighty of Jacob. 

Blessings of heaven above, 

Blessings of the deep that croucheth under, 

Blessings of breasts and womb, 

Blessings of the everlasting mountains, 

The desire of the eternal hills. 

May they be upon Joseph's head, 

On the head of him crowned among brothers.22 

The lines omitted have evidently seen corruption and inter- 
polation. 

Deuteronomy 33 : 13 if. 

Blessed of Yahweh be his land. 

From the choice fruits of heaven, from the dew, 

And from the deep that coucheth beneath: 

And from the choice fruits of the crops of the sun, 

And from the choice fruits of the yield of the months; 

And from the top of the ancient mountains, 

And from the choice fruits of the everlasting hills; 

And from the choice fruits of the earth and its fullness. 

And the favor of him that dwelt in the bush — 

Let them come upon the head of Joseph, 

And upon the crown of the head of him that is prince among his 

brethren ! 
His firsthng bullock, — it hath majesty, 
And its horns are horns of a wild-ox ; 
With them he pusheth peoples, 
All together the ends of the earth : 
Those are the myriads of Ephraim, 
And those are the thousands of Manasseh.^^ 

The Oracles of Balaam 

The Oracles of Balaam preserve for us certain delightful 
characteristics of the earliest Hebrew poetry and national 

22 E. G. King's translation. 

23 S. R. Driver's translation. 



HEBREW POETRY 151 

enthusiasm. The poems are imbedded in a charmingly 
naive and symbolic tale of how the people of the adjacent 
territory of Moab became quite frightened at the rapidly 
increasing strength of this newly-come tribe of Israelites; 
and of how the Moabite king called to his aid a noted diviner 
or seer by the name of Balaam whose blessings or curses 
had heretofore been known to be effective. The chiefs of 
Moab and Midian joined in this precautionary measure of 
invoking an evil spell upon their much feared enemy. The 
story tells us that "the elders of Moab and the elders of 
Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their 
hand," and that Balaam was evidently considerably tempted 
by these offers, but his loyalty to the true spirit of prophecy 
would not allow him to give expression to anything false 
and so he was obliged to pronounce a blessing on Israel 
rather than curses as had been desired. The power given 
to the dumb ass to speak in protest against such an unholy 
mission adds an embellishment to the story, not unknown 
in other ancient literatures. 

The poems reveal a crude, childish conception of Yah- 
weh's protection, also a survival of the heathen regard for 
the office of the diviner, but at the same time a transition 
period from superstitious reverence for the magic power 
of a seer^ to regard for a prophet because he is inspired 
to speak the truth. They also picture a period when the 
Israelites were in the heyday of their enthusiasm over be- 
coming a really powerful people, growing in numbers and 
prosperity so that their neighbors stood in fear of them, 
instead of standing in fear of their neighbors as had been 
the case for so long. The words and style of the lines 
suggest the very earliest literary epoch. For all these 
reasons the date of the oracles is placed in the first days 
of the monarchy before the division of the kingdom. It is 
quite apparent in Numbers 24 : 7 that there was a king and 
that his kingdom was a unit. The meter is for the most 
part trimeter but some lines have four accents and others 
two, such irregularities being more common in early poetry 
than in later periods. 



152 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

Notice the progress of thought in the oracles. In the 
first is stated the absolute refusal to damn a people whom 
God has not damned, in the second Moab's attention is called 
to the fact that God is evidently blessing Israel; in the 
third the details of Israel's prosperity are made vivid; and 
finally in the fourth Moab is warned to look out for her 
own future as the prophet pictures the supremacy of Israel. 

First Oracle (Numbers 23 : 7-10) 

From Aram Balak doth bring me, 

Moab's king from hills of the East: 

**Go curse me Yakob, 

And go damn Israel." 

How curse I, whom God curseth not, 

And how damn Yahweh hath not damned? 

For from the rock's-head I see him. 

And from the heights I behold him. 

Lo, a people dwelling alone. 

Nor reckons itself with the nations. 

Who hath measured the dust of Yakob, 

Or counted Israel's myriads? 

May I die the death of the upright, 

And like his be my end ! 2* 

Second Oracle (Numbers 23 : 18-24) 

Arise, Balak, and hearken. 

Give ear to me, son of Zippor! 

God is not man to belie. 

Nor man's son to repent. 

Hath He said, and doth not perform, 

Or spoken and will not fulfil it? 

Behold, to bless I have gotten, 

And, blessing, I vvill not reverse it 

I mark nothing wrong with Yakob, 

Nor spy any stain on Israel ; 

Yahweh, his God, is with him, 

And the noise of a King is upon him. 

'Tis God out of Egypt that brings him, 

And his is the strength of the wild-ox. 

For magic is not in Yakob, 

To Israel, what God hath wrought. 

Lo, the folk like a lioness riseth, 

And like to a lion uprears ; 

Nor will couch till he eateth the prey. 

And drinketh the blood of the slain. 

24 These are translations of G. A. Smith. 



HEBREW POETRY 1153 



Third Oracle {Numbers 24:3-9) 

Oracle of Balaam, Beor's son, 

And oracle of the eye-sealed man, 

Who heareth the speech of God, 

In vision seeth Shaddai,^^:^ 

FalHng down, yet open of eye. 

How goodly thy tents, Yakob, 

Thy dwellings, Israel! 

Like valleys they spread. 

Like riverside gardens. 

Like cedars God planted, 

Like oaks upon water. 

Streams water from's buckets, 

His seed's on great waters. 

Higher is his king than Agog 

And lifted his kingdom. 

'Tis God out of Egypt that brings him, 

And his is the strength of the wild-ox. 

He hath crouched, hath couched like a lion. 

Like a Honess who shall rouse him? 

Let him eat the nations his foes. 

And their bones let him crunch! 

Shatter his oppressors ! 

Who bless thee be blessed. 

And cursed who curse thee. 



Fourth Oracle {Numbers 24: 15-19) 

Oracle of Balaam, Beor's son. 

And oracle of the eye-sealed man, 

Who heareth the speech of God, 

And knows what the Highest doth know; 

In vision he seeth Shaddai, 

Falling down, yet open of eye. 

I see him — but not now, 

I descry him — but not near. 

A star has gone up from Yakob, 

A sceptre from Israel rises. 

And shatters the brows of Moab, 

The skulls of all sons of Sheth. 

And Edom shall be dispossessed, 

And dispossessed be Seir ; 24b 

While Israel gains in might. 

And Yakob doth rule them, his foes. 

And the rest of Seir doth perish. 

24a A name for Yahweh. 

24:b A mountainous district of Edom. 



154 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 



LATER PATRIOTIC SONGS AND PRAYERS OF 
THE PEOPLE 

The Prologue and Epilogue to the Blessing o£ Moses, 

Deuteronomy 33:2-5, 26-29. 

These lines belong together as the frame-work for the 
earlier material in the body of the poem. They were evi- 
dently written in a more advanced period than any of the 
poems already considered, some scholars think even as late 
as exilic times, since they seem quite similar to some psalms 
of that date. However that may be, they show great 
national pride and trust in Yahweh as loving his people and 
protecting them as a father holds and protects his children 
in his arms. 



vv. 2-5 



vv. 26-29 



The Lord from Sinai is come 

And risen on us from Seir, 

Hath flashed from the hills of Paran, 

And sped from Meribath-Kadesh, 

From the South blazed fire on them. 

Lover indeed of His people, 

His hallowed are all in His hand, 

They, they fall at Thy feet, 

They take up thine orders. 

Moses commanded us law, 

His domain is the Assembly of Yakob, 

And King He became in Yeshurun, 

When the heads of the people were gathered, 

The tribes of Israel were one. 



None like the God of Yeshurun ! — 
Riding the heavens to thy help, 
And the skies in His loftiness. 
The eternal God is thy refuge. 
And beneath are the arms everlasting. 
He drove out before thee the foe. 
And He said Destroy! 
So Israel dwelt securely, 
Secluded the fount of Yakob. 



HEBREW POETRY 155 

On a land of corn and wine, 
His heavens too dropped with dew. 
Happy thou Israel! Who is like thee? 
A people saved by the Lord. 
He is the shield of thy help, 
And the sword that exalts thee ; 
Till thy foes come to thee fawning. 
But thou on their heights dost march.^s 

The Song of Moses, Deuteronomy 32. 

Another famous poem found in the book of Deuteronomy- 
is called ''The Song of Moses." It could not have been 
spoken by him as asserted by the editor of the book in the 
last verse of the previous chapter ; the historical background, 
although of uncertain date, shows itself plainly to be after 
the IsraeHtes had been led out of the wilderness and had 
settled down as a nation in a fruitful land, becoming pros- 
perous. In their prosperity they had forgotten their God, 
and had adopted the customs and beliefs of their neighbors ; 
these neighbors, turning foes, had punished them sadly. 
Some scholars place the poem as late as the exilic period, 
while others think the Syrian opposition would supply the 
setting. In any event the song is a very stirring national 
appeal, and there are two or three very frequently quoted 
couplets. Doctor George Adam Smith thus characterizes 
it: 'Though not comparable to other masterpieces of He- 
brew poetry either for beauty of metaphor, or musical dic- 
tion, or fineness of spiritual insight, this strong poem is 
distinguished by the fire, force, and sweep of its superb 
rhetoric. Granted its limits — for it is neither an epic nor 
a lyric, but a didactic ode addressed with a practical pur- 
pose to a sinful generation — it has no peer in the Old 
Testament." 

Following is a partial translation.^^ 

Give ear, O Heavens, let me speak, 

And let Earth hear the words of my mouth. 

May my message drop as the rain, 

My speech distil as the dew, 

25 G. A. Smith's translation. 

26 See G, A. Smith, Deuteronomy, Cambridge Bible. 



15fi A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

Like mists on the grass, 
And like showers on the herb. 
For the name of the Lord I proclaim, 
To one God give the greatness! 

Remember the days of old, 
Scan the years, age upon age; 
Ask of thy sire that he shew thee, 
Thine elders, that they may tell thee. 
When the Highest gave nations their heritage, 
When He sundered the children of men, 
He set the bounds of the peoples 
By the tale of Israel's sons, 
For the Lord's own lot is Jacob, 
Israel the scale of His heritage. 
In a desert land He found him, 
In the void and howl of the waste. 
X He swept around him. He scanned him, 
As the pupil of His eye He watched him. 
As an eagle stirreth his nest, 
Fluttereth over his young, 
Spreadeth his wings, doth catch them, 
Beareth them up on his pinions, 
The Lord alone was his leader. 
And never a strange god with Him. 
He made him to ride the highlands, 
And to eat of the fruit of the hills, 
Suckled him with honey from the crag 
And oil of the flinty rock. 
Curd of the kine, milk of the flock. 
With the fatness of lambs and of rams, 
Bulls of Bashan and he-goats. 
With the finest flour of the wheat — 
And the grape's blood thou drankest in foam ! 

Jacob ate and was full. 

Fat waxed Jeshurun and kicked, 

• — Thou wast fat, thou wast plump, thou wast sleek !^ — 

He forsook the God who had made him, 

And befooled the Rock of his succour. 

With s+rangers they moved Him by jealousy. 

With abominations provoked Him, 

They sacrificed to demons not God, 

Gods whom they never had known, 

New ones, lately come in. 

Your sires never trembled at them. 

Of the Rock that thee bare thou wast mindless, 

And forgattest the God that had travailed with thee. 

For not as our Rock is their rock, 
Our foes being judges; 



HEBREW POETRY 157 

Their grapes are poisonous grapes, 
Bitterest clusters are theirs. 
Their wine is the venom of dragons, 
The pitiless poison of asps. 

Vengeance is mine and requital 

What time their foot shall slip. 

For the Lord shall judge for His people, 

And relent for His servants' sake. 

When He sees that their grip is gone. 

Nor fast nor free remaineth. 

See now that I, I am He, 
And never a god beside me. 
I do to death and revive, 
I shattered and I shall heal. 

Sing, O ye nations, His people. 
For His servants' blood He avengeth, 
And vengeance He wreaks on His foes, 
And assoils the land of His people. 

Several points should be noted in this poem. National 
history is personified in apt and vivid imagery, the pictures 
being drawn from all sorts of every-day observations; for 
example, Israel's rebelliousness in prosperity is compared 
to that of a fat, kicking steer, God's care to that of an eagle 
stirring up her nest and fluttering over her young, teach- 
ing them hov^ to fly, a most accurate and minute observation ; 
the fruits of evil are likened to bitter, poisonous grapes, and 
the slipping foot and loosening hold of the people is like 
that of a mountain climber who has lost his strength. But 
in the nation's distress the real God, Israel's God, comes 
to their help; because of this wonderful help of a wonder- 
ful God the prelude calls upon the heavens and the earth 
to hear the refreshing, invigorating message of the poet, 
whose restoring effects will be like the heavy dew or grateful 
showers on the parched, withered grass, a phenomenon 
most thankfully observed by them in the long rainless 
summer months. The last lines exhort every one who 
recognizes such a God to shout and sing for joy. The 
Hebrew word translated "sing" is the "most ringing" of the 
verbs with this meaning. But with all the homeliness and 



158 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

every-dayness of phraseology and all the exuberance of 
exultation, the style maintains an impressive dignity. 
Thus its artistic secret as a great song is apparent. More- 
over, being a very religious patriotic song, it appeals to 
other peoples and other ages besides that of the Israelitish 
kingdom; its significance is more than local, it is universal. 
Yet the conception of God as a God of vengeance and of 
blood reflects the crudeness of the age compared with the 
later prophetic picture of Him as a God who forgives even 
His enemies. Dr. Smith's metrical translation brings out 
the rhythm but "as Hebrew — especially by virtue of its 
verbal suffixes — can express by one word with one accent 
ideas or feelings which it takes two or three to express in 
English, the rhythmical translation offered is only a rough 
approximation to the meter of the original. As in many 
Hebrew poems, there is no division into strophes. The 
rush of the rhetoric does not allow of this." We only wish 
we might have been there and heard the people themselves 
sing it. 

The Grand Processional, Psalm 24: 7-10. 

The interpretation of this very early national song has 
already been given under The Structure of Hehrezv' 
Poetry.^'^ This was very likely one of the few to have been 
composed by David. If so, it shows his genius most ad- 
mirably; not only a fighter and an administrator was he, 
but a man of poetic fire and dramatic feeling, who could 
stage a musical pageant and write the choric parts. 

The Pilgrim Psalter, Psalms 120-134. 

There are fifteen of these psalms in one of the Hebrew 
hymn books, five hymn books comprising our book of 
Psalms. They are highly religious in tone, but, as we 
have already seen, religious songs among the Hebrews were 
more than likely to express patriotic sentiment. Pilgrim- 
ages were made from all parts of the country up to Jeru- 

27 p. 134. 



HEBREW POETRY 159 

salem, the capital, to celebrate the great annual festivals. 
Caravans of people were formed to make the journey on 
foot; those from the more remote districts became long 
processions as they gathered up the folk from the various 
villages through which they passed. When companies to- 
day are journeying together to the same place with a com- 
mon purpose and spirit in their hearts they cannot refrain 
from bursting out in song. What is more modern than to 
hear such community singing as the train or the trolley pulls 
into a town for a football game, a religious convention, a 
Fourth of July celebration ? Yet the custom is by no means 
modern ; centuries ago, even two millenniums ago, it existed 
in the ancient world. Imagine the earnest, imaginative, 
dramatic Hebrew pilgrims traveling along the well-worn, 
ancient road from the north, over the hills and vales of 
Samaria, through the pass between Mount Ebal and Mount 
Gerezim, stopping to drink at Jacob's Well with all its patri- 
archal associations ; or crossing the Jordan and going down 
on the eastern side, then back again by "the Pilgrim Ford" 
near Jericho and finally up over the steep, rocky slopes of 
the Mount of Olives, there catching the first glimpse of 
Jerusalem, the Holy City, and of the glittering dome of the 
Temple, Yahweh's House. Think of the women marching 
together in one section of the caravan, the men in another ; 
families, kinsfolk, and neighbors, greeting additions to the 
procession as they join the caravan at various villages, tell- 
ing each other the latest gossip, inquiring concerning the 
welfare of friends and acquaintances, exchanging opinions 
on the signs of the times, sympathizing with each other over 
bad or good fortune, their poverty or their prosperity, their 
hopes and their fears ; and at night camping out under the 
stars, singing a psalm of gratitude for a safe day's journey 
and a prayer for Yahweh's protection during the darkness ; 
finally, on the last stretch of the road, breaking out in 
exultant pride and joy over their capital city, the strong- 
hold of their nation. One can follow the men in their talk 
about wars and rumors of wars and then hear them singing 
loudly, very thankfully. 



160 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

I am for peace 

or again 

If it had not been Jehovah who was on our side, 

When men rose up against us : 

Then they had swallowed us up alive. 

or thus 

Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers ; 
The snare is broken and we are escaped. 
Our help is in the name of Jehovah, 
Who made heaven and earth. 

In days of anxiety they would remind Jehovah of His 
promises, 

Jehovah, remember for David 
All his affliction. 

Jehovah hath sworn unto David in truth; 
He will not turn from it. 

When they contrasted a quarrelsome town with a har- 
monious village they voiced their thoughts in such lines as 
these, 

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is 
For brethren to dwell together in unity ! 

In prosperous days they would consult together about the 
best way to build a house and congratulate each other on 
their homes, singing, 

Except Jehovah build the house, 
They labor in vain that build it, 
Except Jehovah keep the city 
The watchman waketh but in vain. 

Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine, 
In the innermost parts of thy house; 
Thy children like olive plants. 
Round about thy table. 

Perhaps it was the women who were talking over their 
oppressors whose wives lived at ease when they sang 



HEBREW POETRY 161 

Exceedingly we are filled with contempt, 

Exceedingly our soul is filled 

With the scorn of those without care. 28 

or telling of their troubles when some one would start such 
a verse as 

My soul waiteth for the Lord 

More than watchmen wait for the morning. 

Surely I have stilled and quieted my soul; 
Like a weaned child with his mother. 

When they were recalling the days of their release from 
captivity they expressed their strong emotions in words like 
these, 

When Jehovah brought back those that returned to Zion, 
We were like unto them that dream. 

They that sow in tears 
Shall reap in joy. 

Then these farmer folk, recalling their afflictions as they 
passed a man plowing his ground would think in metaphors 
and sing, 

The plowers plowed upon my back; 
They made long their furrows. 

As they passed a house with its thatched roof springing 
up in a thin growth of sickly-looking grass, they thought 
it would be a good curse upon their enemies to wish them 
such unproductiveness as compared with the rich harvest 
of the fields : 

Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, 
Which withereth before it groweth up. 

And as they came up to Mount Zion itself in deepest rever- 
ence they would sing. 

Lift up your hands to the sanctuary, 
And bless ye Jehovah, 

28 These three lines are Briggs' translation. 



169, A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

The two psalms of this interesting collection most fre- 
quently quoted are Psalm 121 and Psalm 125. Psalm 121 
was probably sung as they approached the high mountains 
on the last lap of their journey and camped overnight al- 
most in sight of the Holy City. This is stairlike parallelism 
and the beauty of the rhythm of thought comes out best 
when read antiphonally. 

Psalm 125 was also sung near the journey's end, perhaps 
when Jerusalem burst upon the vision on the shoulder of 
the Mount of Olives. The last part of the psalm as we 
have it in our text was probably of a different date than the 
first part, for it reflects strife rather than peace and pros- 
perity. 

The Great Doxology, Psalm 150. 

At the close of each one of the five hymn books compos- 
ing the Psalter there is a benediction or doxology. (Psalm 
41 : 13 ; 72 : 18-20 ; 89 : 52 ; 106 : 48 ; and 150.) Psalm 150 
is the closing doxology for the entire Psalter. 

This last hymn book is full of what are known as Halle- 
lujah Psalms or Hallels, that is. Songs of Praise. The 
words Hallel Yah (or jah) meant Praise Yah or Yahweh, 
transliterated into the Greek as aWrjXovia and into 
English as Hallelujah. There are four groups of these 
Hallels, Psalms 104-107; Psalms 111-117; Psalms 135-136; 
Psalms 146-150. Psalms 113 and 114 were sung at the 
Passover Feast before the supper, and Psalms 115-118 after 
it. With some of the Psalms the Hallelujah was not a 
part of the hymn itself but preceded it and closed it as we 
close our hymns with an Amen. But in Psalm 150 it is a 
part of the poem, as it is in Psalm 147. The last line 
should repeat it three times to make the meter right. 
These songs were of course especially for liturgical pur- 
poses and were composed when the liturgy of the Temple 
service was quite elaborate. Psalm 136 is called "The 
Great Hallel," where the refrain is repeated twenty-six 
times, as the arrangement now stands, although perhaps 
originally the hymn was much simpler. They were written 



HEBREW POETRY 16S 

in the Greek Period, some of them as late as the Macca- 
bean. Psalm 150 was one of the latest of the writings of 
the Old Testament, perhaps about 140 B.C., and it puts the 
seal of praise upon all the religious poetry of the Hebrews. 
For the Hebrews were a peculiarly praiseful people, not- 
withstanding the dark pictures they drew and the com- 
plaints they made. There was no ancient nation that had 
such a sense of sin, but there was no nation that expressed 
such gratitude to God for His greatness and power. His 
glory and beauty, and for His deliverance of His people 
from their sinful and hampered states. It is fitting that 
the entire group of hymn books, representing the collections 
of many centuries should be closed with such a triumphant 
Hallelujah Chorus as the Great Doxology. 

The First of the Hallels, Psalm 104. 

It is to be noticed that this poem has seven strophes of 
eight lines each. Extra lines were evidently put in by later 
editors, which destroy the symmetry and are for the most 
part redundant in thought. These redundant lines are 
verses 8, 15a, 16b, 17a, 20, 24b and c, 26a, 27b, 29c, 32, 33, 
35. The trustful adoration expressed for the God who not 
only is Creator of both Nature and man, but cares lovingly 
for all his creatures, is very Christhke in tone. 

The Lord's Prayer, Matthew 6: 9-15, Luke 11 : 1-4. 

This classic prayer of the Christian faith is really a poem. 
It is a People's Prayer also, a community expression. It 
has been called The Disciples' Prayer rather than the Lord's 
Prayer, for it belongs peculiarly to groups of disciples who 
are following the Lord. It is built quite apparently upon 
the principles of poetic parallelism which underlie Old 
Testament poetry, although it is written in the Greek, a 
language foreign to the Hebrew genius. So strong, how- 
ever, was the call of their own native originality that it must 
burst forth in characteristic form even in an adopted 
tongue. It quite fulfills the definition of a lyric. Certainly 
prayers may be lyrics. It has been said that Jesus made a 



164 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

new departure by inaugurating freedom in prayer, trust- 
fulness in spirit, and simplicity of manner. These three 
elements are very obviously in this prayer and unite to make 
it a masterpiece, as has been attested by its universal use 
for nineteen centuries. The rhythm and balance of its 
phrasing has been apparent, too, even in our imperfect 
translations. There are two strophes of five lines each. 
The first strophe has great public interests as its theme, the 
second voices personal needs. The last phrase in the prayer 
as we are accustomed to repeat it, 

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever, 
Amen. 

is like our "Gloria" and was probably added to the original. 
It does not detract from the greatness of the poem to know 
that when it was composed many of the phrases were al- 
ready in use in the prayers of the synagogue. There is one, 
however, not found elsewhere, sounding a note so high that 
men who have tried to live by it have attested that it could 
have originated only in the divine mind. 

Forgive us our debts 

As we have forgiven our debtors. 

Some Christians have stumbled at the phrase "Lead us not 
into temptation" as a pagan expression denoting belief in 
a God who brought men deliberately into evil in order to 
test them. A phrase more consistent with our modern in- 
terpretation would be "So lead us that we may be safe from 
evil," which is probably the significance early Christians 
gave it. This one petition seems to make the whole poem 
less heroic than that other classic New Testament lyric 
The Beatitudes, which is like a Hallelujah chorus of mar- 
tyrs singing 

Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness' sake : 
For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. 

Perhaps "the Lord's Prayer" is all the greater as a com- 
munity prayer for that very petition, for "the Lord's Prayer 
is not merely for heroes, but for the timid and inexperi- 
enced." 



HEBREW POETRY 165 



SONGS OF THE ROYALTY 

Following are a few songs which pertain to individuals 
as public servants, to the king especially. 

A King's Wedding Song, Psalm 45. 

This song fits in so well with the history of Jehu that it is 
thought to have been written originally in honor of his 
marriage. He was noted for his fierce riding and the ter- 
rible acts he performed as he struck the vigorous blows 
which freed Israel from the dominance of Jezebel and her 
house, events which seem to be referred to in verses 3-5. 
The ivory palaces referred to in verse 8 were first known 
in Israel in the time of Ahab's reign and are mentioned in 
the book of Amos as a sign of luxury. This also fits in 
with the choice of Jehu as the "hero" of verse 3.^^ While 
the historical account of his deeds in the book of Kings 
does not mention his marriage, that might well be imagined. 
His pride in humbling the house of Tyre is well brought out 
in verse 12 where the former Tyrian aristocracy, Jezebel's 
kin, "do homage" at the feet of his bride. If this was the 
original occasion for the song, it was very probably sung 
again and again as a general wedding hymn for royalty, an 
editor adding certain messianic verses to make it accord 
with popular expectations. The first verse and the last two 
seem editorial; verse 7 appears to add a later messianic 
touch. 

Following is Doctor Briggs' translation and arrangement 
of the original poem showing the refrain in italics : 

Thou art very fair, above the children of men ; 
Grace has been poured on thy lips ; 

Therefore Yahweh hath blessed thee forever. 
Gird thy sword on thy thigh, 
O hero, thy splendor and thy majesty; 
Tread the bow, have success, ride on ; 
And thy right hand will show thee terrible deeds. 
O hero, thine arrows are sharp, 
In the heart of the king's enemies. 

Therefore Yahweh thy God hath anointed thee. 
29 See 1 Kings 22:39 and Amos 3: 15. 



166 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

O oil of joy above thy fellows, 

Myrrh and aloes, cassia thou. 

All thy garments are from ivory palaces, 

Whence kings' daughters gladden thee. 

In thy costly things the queen doth stand at thy right hand. 

In golden attire, her clothing of embroidery. 

Hear, see, and incline thine ear, 

And forget thy people and thy father's house; 

For the king desires thy beauty. 

'-Vorship him for he is thy sovereign lord. 

The daughter of Tyre will do homage with a gift for thee; 

The richest people will court thy face. 

In all glorious things the king's daughter is within; 

Inwrought with gold is her clothing. 

In embroidery are conducted to the king her attendants; 

Virgins, her companions, are brought to her; 

With gladness and exulting they are conducted to her; 

Into the king's palace they are brought to her. 

Therefore the peoples will praise thee forever. 

It is to be noted that in verse 6 of our ordinary version, 
where reference is made apparently to the throne of God, a 
new thought, out of harmony with the rest of the poem, is 
brought in. Two explanations have been proposed, one 
that it was added by the editor, another that the Hebrew 
word for "will be," which looks very much like "Yahweh," 
was mistaken for the name of the deity by a copyist, who, 
instead of using the term "Yahweh," used *'Elohim," the 
name of the deity which is always translated "God." Thus 
this verse was made to refer to God's throne instead of that 
of the Hebrew king. Doctor Briggs omits it as not a part of 
the original poem. 

A Prayer for the King, Psalm 72. 

"Here the ideals of Amos, Hosea, and Isaiah are woven 
into a majestic royal ode." ^^ Notice the theme of the 
prayer that the king's rule may be full of justice and benefi- 
cence, and because of this his name shall gain an enduring 
fame. Josiah is the only king whose social ideals seem to 
harmonize with these lines, especially verses 12-15. There- 
fore this song is supposed to have been written to him. 

30 Professor Kent in Student's Old Testament, The Songs, Hymns and 
Prayers of the Old Testament. 



HEBREW POETRY 167 

Grant the king thy justice, O Yahweh, 

And thy righteousness to the king's son. 

May he judge thy people in righteousness, 

And thine afflicted ones with justice, 

May the mountains bear peace to the people. 

And the hills bring forth righteousness. 

May he vindicate the afflicted among the people, 

May he help the sons of the needy. 

May he fear Thee while the sun endureth, 

As long as the moon shineth, even forever. 

May he descend like rain upon the mown grass, 

Like rain-drops that water the earth. 

May righteousness flourish in his days. 

And abundant peace until the moon be no more. 

For he delivereth the needy who cry, 

And the afflicted who have no helper. 

He hath pity on the poor and needy, 

And saveth the life of the poor. 

He saveth them from extortion and violence, 

And their life-blood is precious in his sight; 

So may they live and give him of Sheba's gold,. 

And pray for him continually. 

And bless him all the day long. 

May there be abundance of grain in the land, 

On the hill top may his fruit rustle like Lebanon; 

And may they blossom forth from the city like the wild herbs. 

May his name endure forever, 

May his name be established as long as the sun shineth, 

May all nations ask a blessing like his and call him happy.^*'* 

Verses 8-11 are in an entirely different tone and are thought 
by some scholars to have been added later. They are 
omitted here. Verses 18 and 19 are the benediction which 
ends this entire collection of psalms, as has already been 
observed. Verse 20 in our ordinary versions gives an edi- 
torial addition which has nothing to do with either the 
original hymn or the benediction. 

A King's Rule of Life, Psalm 101. 
or 
The Portrait of a Righteous King ^^ 

Following is Professor Kent's arrangement. 

30a This is Professor Kent's arrangement. 

31 These are the titles given it by S. R. Driver. Prof. Kent calls it "A 
Ruler's Oath of Office." 



168 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

This psalm very appropriately applies to King Simon, 
the Maccabean ruler who for a short time regained the 
complete independence of the Jewish state. He was justly 
beloved by the people for his nobility, benevolence, and 
good judgment in a most difficult period of history. Some 
scholars, however, think the body of the poem was written 
much earlier, in preexilic times, or soon after the return 
from Babylonia. In the latter case it is a community 
hymn.^2 The five-beat measure brings out the stateliness 
of the poem much better than the line division of our 
ordinary versions. 

Of mercy and justice will I sing to Thee, O Yahweh. 

I will behave myself wisely and blamelessly, O when wilt thou 

come to me? 
I will walk in uprightness of mind in the midst of my house. 
I will set before mine eyes nothing that is base, 
I hate an act of apostasy; it shall not cleave to me. 
A perverse purpose I will banish from me ; I will know no evil. 

Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him will I cut off; 
Whoever has a high look and a proud heart, him will I not 

tolerate. 
Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may 

dwell with me ; 
He who walks in an upright manner, that one shall serve me. 
He who practices deceit shall not dwell within my house; 
He who speaks falsehood shall not be established before mine 

eyes. 
Zealously will I destroy all the wicked of the land, 
That I may cut off from the city of Yahweh all wicked doers. ^s 

(Note — There are many other hymns with a national or 
royal import. For a classification of the Psalms, for the 
individual and for the community, the reader is referred to 
Driver's Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testa- 
ment, pp. 368, 369.) 

DIRGES— EARLY AND LATE 

The peculiar dirge measure has been explained. We have 
two dirges which have come down from the very earhest 
period of Hebrew literature. They are ascribed to David 

32 See Driver's Introduction and Briggs, Psalms. 

33 Professor Kent's translation and arrangement. 



HEBREW POETRY 169 

and may well have been composed by him. In both cases 
the simple kinah rhythm is not observed throughout; that 
is kept in the two-line folk-song of David's return from 
battle, although it is not a dirge.^* 

Dirge on Abner, // Samuel 3 : 33, 34. 

And the King sang a dirge for Abner and said : 

As dieth a fool 

Must Abner die? 

Thy hands unbound and thy feet, 

Nor thrust into gyves. 

As falleth a fool, 

To the lawless fallen art thou ! ^s 

The editor of the books of Samuel says he takes the 
following poem from the very early collection of songs 
which has been lost, The Book of Jasher. 

David's Elegy over Saul and Jonathan, // Samuel 1 : 19-26. 

Thou roebuck of Israel ! pierced on thine own mountain-heights I 
How are the mighty fallen! 

Tell it not in Gath ; 

Announce it not in the streets of Askelon ; 
Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice; 
Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph I 

Ye hills of Gilboa be dewless ! 

Ye fields of oblations be rainless ! 

For there was the shield of heroes polluted; 

The shield of Saul, without the anointing. 

From the blood of the slain — 

From the fat of the mighty — 

The bow of Jonathan turned not back— 

The sword of Saul returned not empty. 

Saul and Jonathan! — 

So dear, so delightful in life ; — 

And in death undivided ! 

They were swifter than eagles, stronger than lions. 

Ye daughters of Israel — 

Weep over Saul 

Who clad you in scarlet with luxury, 

Who decked your apparel with jewelry. 

34 I Samuel 18:7; 21:11; 29:5. 

35 G. A. Smith's translation. 



170 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

How are the mighty fallen! 

In the midst of the battle I 
Ah, Jonathan ! pierced on thine own mountain-heights I 
Woe is me for thee, my brother 1 
Jonathan to me so dear! 
Thy love to me more marvelous 

Than v^roman's love. 

How are the mighty fallen! 

The war-v^eapons perished I^s 

This is one of the most famous and beautiful elegies in 
all literature. Taken against the historical background of 
I Samuel and the account of David's relation with Saul and 
Jonathan its noble spirit is most clearly apparent. Saul 
was the hero of the youth David, and David the king never 
lost his first love, although between the time when he was 
called to the court to play before King Saul and this death- 
scene very much had happened. Notwithstanding Saul's 
insane jealousy and attempts even to do away with David, 
trying to kill him more than once in the royal house and to 
hunt him down in his mountain retreats, yet David loved 
Saul to the end and would not kill him in return even when 
he had him quite in his power. When the messenger ran 
to bring the news of Saul's death to David, thinking to 
please him and therefore declaring that he himself had 
slain the king, that messenger's doom -Vv^as sealed with 
David's anger. The entire poem rings with sincerity ; prim- 
itive people were outspoken in their feelings and court 
diplomacy had as yet little place in Israel's life. Saul was 
still a hero in David's eyes and he did not wish his death 
gloated over by the Philistine enemies nor rejoiced over 
secretly at home. The friendship of David and Jonathan 
is classic. This "In Memoriam" is much more widely known 
than that of Tennyson. 
David's 

Woe is me for thee, my brother! 
Jonathan, to me so dear! 
Thy love to me more marvelous 
Than woman's love. 

36 E. G. King's translation. 



HEBREW POETRY ilTl' 

is as heartfelt and appealing as Tennyson's 

My Arthur, whom I shall not see 
Till all my widow'd race be run; 
Dear as the mother to the son, 
More than my brothers are to me I 

The regular kinah measure is to be observed in the refrain 
as repeated the last two times, and occasionally in the body 
of the poem. The Hebrew word translated in this version 
"roebuck" and in the margin of the Revised Version "ga- 
zelle" may also mean "beauty" or "glory" as our revisers 
have it, the roebuck or gazelle perhaps being so called 
because of its beauty. 

While we have very few dirges on the death of an 
individual and those, as we have seen, appearing quite 
early in Hebrew literature, we have in several instances 
the adoption of this kinah form by the prophets in their 
visions of national disaster and destruction. Some of those 
poems are indeed national elegies. What could be more 
expressive or dramatic than to hear a prophet standing out 
in the market place, wailing over the doom of his city 
which he saw approaching? We have already noted the 
expressive style of Lamentations, a series of dirges on 
the fall of Jerusalem quite evidently by an eye-witness. In 
that connection it is well to remember the historic "Jews' 
Wailing Place" in that city. 

One of the short prophetic wails is that in Amos 5:2: 

Israel the Virgin has fallen. 
She ariseth no more, 
Prostrate she lies on the ground. 
With none to upraise her.sf 

Jeremiah calls for a dirge in chapter 7 and adopts the style 
in chapter 9, although the meter is not the perfect kinah 
measure throughout. 

Shear off thy locks — away with them — 
Lift up a dirge on the heights : 
For Yahweh hath spurned and forsaken 
The race that hath roused Him to anger. 

87 See translations of nuhm and McFadyen. 



172 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

On the mountains I take up a wailing; 

On the wilderness pastures a Kinah. 

They are burned that none can pass through them ! 

Nor lowing of cattle be heard ! 

From bird of heaven to beast 

They are fled and gone ! 
And I make of Jerusalem heaps, 

A dwelling of dragons ! 
And the cities of Judah I make desolation 

That none can inhabit! 

Consider ye, and call for the kinah-women that they may come, 
Let them take up a wailing for us, 
That our eyes may run over with weeping, 
Our eyelids gush water. 

Teach ye your daughters the dirge ; 
Each one her neighbor the kinah 
"Death hath climbed up to our windows, 
And into our palaces entered ! 
Cutting off child from the street, 

Youths from the market ! 
The corpses of men are fallen 
Like dung on the face of the field ! 
Or like sheaves behind the reaper, 
With none to gather them up." 28 

Perhaps the masterpiece of this sort among the prophets 
is that on 

The Doom of Babylon, Isaiah 14. 

How hath the Tyrant ceased ! 

How still is the Terror ! 

Yahweh hath broken the staff of the wicked, 

The rod of the rulers 

That smote the Peoples in wrath 

With ceaseless smiting, 

That trod down the nations in anger 

With tread unrelenting. 

All earth is at rest and is quiet; 

They burst into song ! 

Yea, the fir-trees rejoice at thy fate. 

And the cedars of Lebanon, saying, 

"Since thou hast lain down, there cometh not up 

The feller against us." 

Sheol beneath is a-quiver, 

To welcome thy coming ; 

38 See McFadyen's and King's translations. 



HEBREW POETRY 173 

For thee it arouseth the shades ; 

All the he-goats of earth. 

It maketh to rise from their throi 

All the kings of the Nations, 

All of them lift up their voices 

And say to thee, 

"Thou, too, art weakened as we, 

Made like unto us?" 

Thy pride is brought down unto Sheol; 

The thrum of thy viols. 

Beneath thee maggots are spread, 

And the worm is thy cover. 

How art thou fallen from Heaven, 

Thou Star of the Dawn! 

How art thou hewn to the ground, 

That didst weaken the Nations ! 

Thou that didst say in thine heart, 

"I will mount unto Heaven. 

Above the stars of God 

Will I set up my throne; 

And will sit on the sacred Mount 

The Recess of the North. 

I will mount on the heights of the clouds ; 

Will be like the Most High." 

Yet to Sheol it is thou art brought 

The Recess of the Pit. 

They that see thee look narrowly on thee; 

Upon thee they ponder. 

"Is this the man that troubled the earth, 

That shook the kingdoms? 

That made the earth like a desert. 

Its cities wasted? 
That left not his prisoners free 

To go homeward?" 
And thou art cast forth from thy grave, 
As a shoot that's rejected! 
Clotted with the mangled slain, 
That go down to the stones of the Pit, 
As a carcass that's trampled. 
Not with them art thou joined in thy burial; 
For thy land didst thou ruin. 
Thy people didst slay. 
Unhonored forever remaineth 
The seed of ill-doers.^^ 

Such a paean of relief at the fall of a tyrant is scarcely to 
be found elsewhere in all literature. 

39 This is a combination of the translation of King, Gray and McFadyen, the 
selection of renderings being made to bring out the meaning and the rhythm 
most vividly. 



174 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

Psalm 137 is a lamentation over the Captivity and is writ- 
ten mostly in the dirge measure. It was composed evidently 
when the experiences of the first months of captivity were 
very fresh in mind, when such ridicule and ignominy as the 
Hebrews were subjected to in a foreign land rankled terribly 
in the breasts of those proud people, when the unbrotherly 
betrayal of their cousins, the Edomites, tore at their hearts 
and gave expression to a very vindictive stanza of hate. 
To understand the last verse the outburst of the prophet 
Obadiah should be read, especially verses 10 to 14, where 
he pictures the Edomites helping the enemy in the sack of 
Jerusalem, looting the possessions of the inhabitants and 
cutting off their escape at the cross-roads. Our sympathies 
are drawn out by both pictures, when the Jews were perse- 
cuted by the Babylonians, and by their neighbors. While 
the vindictive portion is far from Christian in spirit, we 
have scant ground even after all these centuries of Christian 
teaching, of which they were ignorant, to assume a role of 
superiority. 

The Lament of the Captives, Psalms 137. 

By Babylon's waters we sat, and we wept, 
As we thought upon Zion. 
There on the willows within her 

We hung our harps. 
For there our captors demanded 
The language of song! 
Our plunderers asked of us mirth! 
"Sing us one of the songs of Zion." 

How can we sing Yahweh's songs 

In land of strangers? 
Could I forget thee, O Jerusalem, 
My right hand should forget! 
My tongue should cleave to my palate 
If unmindful of thee! 
If I set not Jerusalem higher 
Than best of my joy! 

Remember, Yahweh, to the sons of Edom 

The day of Jerusalem, 

Who said, "Lay bare! lay bare! 



HEBREW POETRY 175 

To the foundation with it!" 

Happy be he who repayeth it, 

What thou didst deal us. 

Happy be he who seizeth and dasheth thy little ones 

Against the rock ! ^o 



Some psalms which express the soul's longing cry for 
God seem to fall into this kinah measure, such as Psalm 42. 

My soul is athirst for Yahweh — 

For the God of my Hfe! 
When shall I come and behold 

The Presence of Yahweh? 
Tears have been mine for food, 

By day and by night, 
While they say to me all day long, 

Where is thy God ? *i 



NATURE LYRICS 

The keen observation and intimate love of Nature of the 
Biblical writers is apparent throughout the Old Testament 
and in the Gospels, too. It was a feeling that God worked 
in and through Nature to show man His will and to lead 
him to Himself, which they expressed in their Nature 
poetry, as well as a feeling that Nature was always respon- 
sive to God. As Hosea stated it, there was a mutual call 
and answer between God and Nature, and strange it seemed 
to him that God's people did not hear the call likewise.*^ 
"Nature 'red in tooth and claw,' 'shrieking against faith in a 
living God' — ^these aspects never occurred to the Jews."*^ 
Reverent affection for Nature, the recognition of it as an 
avenue of approach to God, is manifest in the whole texture 
and fiber of their literature, in single words and phrases, 
in metaphors and similes, in the flashes of inspiration which 
sparkle in the midst of other themes. This intimacy per- 

40 See King, Briggs, and McLaren in Expositor's Bible, for rendering. 

41 E. G. King's translation. 

42 Hosea 2: 21-23. 

43 See quotation from Montefiore in Cohu, The Bible and Modern Thought, 
note p. 270. See also Gordon, The Poets of the Old Testament, p. 147, for 
comparison with the English poet, Blake. 



176 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

meates their whole literature and their religion just as their 
patriotism does. It is difficult to separate a section and 
say here is their Nature poetry. Yet to make us see more 
perfectly how rich and vivid was their imagination in this 
respect it is well to group together some of their more 
complete Nature pictures and compare them with those in 
other literatures. 



Psalm 23. 

Nowhere has the care of the shepherd for his sheep been 
so sympathetically portrayed as in the Bible. These people 
were originally, and throughout their history to a large 
extent, tenders of sheep. They could think of no figure of 
speech so true to their conception of God's care for his 
people as that of the shepherd. The Shepherd Psalm would 
probably live among English speaking people if all the rest 
of the Bible should be lost, so firmly has it taken hold of 
our imagination in its endeavor to reveal God. The King 
James version has so impressed our minds and become so 
truly an English classic that no more recent translation can 
take its place. 

The strophic divisions have already been mentioned.** 
Here it should be said that the last two verses (containing 
six poetical lines) seem to give such a completely differ- 
ent picture from that of the shepherd, namely, of a banquet 
in a house, that many scholars think it was intended to 
refer to the king's deliverance from his enemies and to have 
nothing to do with a shepherd's life. This was doubtless 
one of the very earliest psalms reflecting the background of 
the early monarchy. If it was one of the few written by 
David, as some scholars think, or if it was written by some 
one who came soon after and knew the very life that David 
knew, the first part could well have been composed out of 
a shepherd boy's experiences and the last strophe be the 
expression of a king's gratitude for deliverance from his 

44 See Section on Structure of Hebrew Poetry. 



HEBREW POETRY 177 

foes, for David knew both extremes in his eventful career.*'^ 
Note the marginal readings in the Revised Version, for 
they throw light upon the text. ''Still waters" are ''waters 
of rest," not a turbulent wady where no sheep could drink, 
but a quiet pool ; "He guideth me in right tracks" is Doctor 
Briggs' translation of verse 3, carrying out the figure 
of the Guide in the second strophe. "The shadow of death" 
means "the shadow of deep darkness" or "a gloomy ravine" 
where a sheep could easily lose its way and be devoured 
by the lurking wild beasts. The "rod" was a club of de- 
fense against wild beasts. Those who make the fourth 
verse apply to the shepherd interpret the "staff" as a shep- 
herd's crook to lift a poor lamb up out of a pit-fall, but if 
the second strophe begins with 3b including verse 4 and 
refers to a guide, then the "staff" is the guide's walking 
stick. Guests were honored by having their heads anointed 
with oil before a banquet and being sprinkled with per- 
fumes. The last line seems to refer to the temple and this 
is an argument against its having been written by David 
himself, who never saw the temple. 

Storm Pieces, Psalms 18 : 7-15 ; 77 : 16-19 ; 93. 

The Thunderstorm Psalm, Psalm 29. 

To understand this psalm one must imagine the poet 
standing somewhere on the heights of the Lebanon moun- 
tains watching a terrific thunderstorm gather over the Medi- 
terranean Sea, at first in beautiful fleecy cumulus clouds, 
arranging themselves perhaps in the forms of an angelic 
host, growing heavier and blacker as the storm approaches 
and the thunder grows louder. He imagines the thunder is 
the very voice of God speaking through Nature. Then the 
storm breaks with terrible force on the mountains, the wind 
tearing the limbs from those great cedars of Lebanon and 
scattering them about as if the woods were alive, the light- 

45 There are other explanations such as that to be found in The Song of 
Our Syrian Guest, by William Allen Knight, and again that the shepherd 
played the host, as was the custom when men passed a shepherd's tent at 
nightfall. 



178 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

ning striking and shivering the oaks. Finally it disappears 
down the mountain-side and he watches it as a wind-storm 
stirring up the dust of the plateau below. He turns about 
now to view the havoc and feels the unusual hush after such 
a crashing storm. In awe and reverence he sings of Yahweh 
as ruler of the storm as well as King of his people. 

Ascribe to Yahweh, ye Sons of God, 
Ascribe to Yahweh, glory and strength. 
Ascribe to Yahweh the glory due His name; 
Worship Yahweh in the beauty of holiness."** 

The voice of Yahweh is upon the waters; 

The God of glory thundereth. 

Yahweh's voice on the mighty waters ! 

Yahweh's voice in strength, Yahweh's voice in majesty I 

Yahweh's voice shatters the cedars, 
Yahweh shatters the cedars of Lebanon. 
He maketh Lebanon to skip like a calf 
And Sirion ^sa as a young wild ox. 
Yahweh's voice cleaveth the rocks, 
Yahweh cleaves them with blade of fire. 

Yahweh's voice lasheth the desert, 
Yahweh lasheth the desert of Kadesh. 
Yahweh's voice shivers the oaks 
And strippeth the forests bare.*^ 
Yahweh sat enthroned over the Flood, 
Yahweh will sit enthroned forever. 
Yahweh giveth strength to His people; 
Yahweh blesseth His people with peace.*^ 

In reading aloud this stirring and dramatic storm piece it 
would be well to use "the Lord" in place of "Yahweh" for 
that fits into the meter and is more familiar to the ears of 
most people. 

Compare with this the Arabic poem beginning — 

Friend, thou seest the lightning. Mark where it wavereth, 
Gleaming like fingers twisted, clasped in the cloud-rivers, 

46 We retain here the suggestive rendering of the Authorized Version, the 
more literal translation is "in holy attire." 

46a Another name for Mount Hermon. ... , 

4T Another line has been added here by a later writer using the poem for a 

^^48 Perhaps this postlude as well as the prelude were added for use in the 
temple service, but they form a fitting framework for the thought of the poet. 
For translations and arrangements see Gordon, Briggs, and Kent. 



HEBREW POETRY 179 

Like a lamp new-lighted, so is the flash of it. 
Trimmed by a hermit nightly pouring oil-sesame.*® 

And also Edwin Markham's 

The Place of Peace 

At the heart of the cyclone tearing the sky 

And flinging the clouds and the towers by, 

Is a place of central calm ; 

So here in the roar of mortal things, 

I have a place where my spirit sings, 

In the hollow of God's Palm. 

God's Majesty in the Storm, J oh 36 :24-37 : 22. 

It would be well to compare with this Dr. Jastrow's 
translation in his Book of Job. 

PRAISE LYRICS 

Many of the hymns of praise to the Creator and to the 
Father and Preserver of Mankind are full of references to 
the wonders of Nature ; praise and wonder blended in their 
thought and feeling. They did not worship Nature nor 
enjoy it simply for the sake of aesthetic gratification, but 
because through it they saw God. 

A Morning Hymn, Psalm 19 : 1-6. 

The heavens declare the glory of God: 

And the firmament showeth His handiwork. 

Day poureth forth speech unto day ; 

And night to night showeth knowledge. 

In all the earth their voice is gone out, 

And their words to the end of the world. 

In them hath he set a tent for the sun. 

As a bridegroom he is going forth from his canopy.^* 

He rejoiceth as a hero to run his course. 

From one end of the heavens he setteth out, 

And to the other end is his circuit, 

And nothing can be hid from his heat.^^ 

49 For a complete translation of this poem see Library of the World's Best 
Literature, Article "Arabic Literature." 

50 Canopies are still used at Jewish marriages, 

51 See International Critical Commentary, Student's Old Testament, and Ex- 
positor's Bible, for rendering. 



180 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

Psalm 19 is composed of two originally separate poems, 
this Morning Hymn to the Sun, which may have been built 
upon a Babylonian hymn to the sun-god, and the last half 
which exalts the Law, and is really a didactic poem rather 
than a hymn. If the first half was not an old sun-god 
hymn taken over and adapted to the worship of Yahweh, 
it may have been the original hymn of a monotheist in pro- 
test against the sun-worship which was known in Israel 
from time to time. At any rate it is a noble song of praise 
to the God of the heavens as well as of the earth. That 
the second half is quite another poem seems apparent from 
the meter as well as the thought, our morning hymn being 
in trimeter measure, the one in praise of the Law in penta- 
meter. However, the two parts do balance each other, the 
editor who put them together doubtless feeling that God's 
greatness is shown in the Moral Law quite as truly as in the 
Laws of Nature. Both are fine examples of the Hebrew 
poetic genius, expressing itself at different periods in dif- 
ferent ways. 

An Evening Hymn, Psalm 8. 

This is one of the classics in our English Bibles and the 
poetic rhythm is preserved very well in our ordinary ver- 
sions. The measure is trimeter. The refrain which forms 
the prelude and the postlude is very artistically placed and 
composed; the last accent of the first line is omitted for 
the purpose of obtaining a pause before declaring the tri- 
umphant theme of the poem, given in the second line. The 
glorious greatness of God is the main thought, but the con- 
trast of the glory of man as one of His creations, His 
crowning creation only a little lower than Himself, enhances 
the thought, also inspiring man's endeavor because he is the 
son of such a God. This also illustrates capitally the love 
of contrast, another characteristic of Hebrew art, in the 
juxtaposition of the wonders of the heavens and the little- 
ness of man — "What is man that Thou art mindful of 
him?" And yet the greatness of man is manifest, having 
dominion over the works of God's hands. 



HEBREW POETRY 181 

The Song of Creation, Job 38:4-18. 

It would be well to note the special renderings in Jas- 
trow's The Book of Job. Verses 15, 21 and 36 are omitted 
as belonging to a later commentator. 

A Song of Assurance in the Omnipotent God, Isaiah 

40:12ff. 

Many will prefer to read this in the King James Version, 
for while not printed there as poetry its singing rhythm is 
very apparent. The following rendering aids as a commen- 
tary on meaning and form. 

Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, 

And ruled off the heavens with a span, 

Or enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure, 

And weighed the mountains in scales, 

And the hills in a balance? 

Who hath directed the spirit of Yahweh? 
And where is the counsellor that taught Him? 
Whom did He ask for enlightenment? 
Who taught Him the pathway of right, 
Or showed Him the way of understanding? 
Lo the nations! as a drop from a bucket, 
They count but as dust on a balance; 
Lo the isles ! as a straw he uplifteth, 
And Lebanon is not enough for fuel, 
Too few are its beasts for an offering. 
All the nations are as nothing before Him, 
He counts them but empty nothing. 
To whom then will ye liken God, 
Or what likeness set over against Him? 
An image ! a craftsman cast it, 
A goldsmith o'erlaid it with gold. 

Do ye not know? Do ye not hear? 

Hath it not been told you from the beginning? 

Of this have ye not been aware. 

Since the day that the world was founded? 

It is He that sits throned on the vault of the earth. 

So high that the inhabitants are as locusts ; 

Who stretcheth out the heavens like a thin veil, 

And spreadeth them out like a habitable tent. 

It is He that reduceth proud princes to nothing. 

That turneth the rulers of earth into waste. 

Scarcely have they been planted, scarcely have they been sown. 

Scarcely hath the stock taken root in the earth, 



182 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE ^ 

But He bloweth upon them and they wither, 

And a whirlwind carries them away like chaff. 

To whom then will ye liken me, 

That I should equal him? saith the Holy One. 

Lift up your eyes on high and see; 

Who hath created these ? ^2 

He who bringeth forth their host by number, 

And calleth each by his name ; 

So great His resource and so mighty His power, 

Not one is missing. 

Why sayest thou, then, O Jacob, 

And speakest, O Israel, 

"My way is hid from Yahweh, 

And my right is ignored by my God?" 

Has thou not known? Has thou not heard? 

An everlasting God is Yahweh, 

The creator of the ends of the earth. 

He fainteth not, neither is weary, 

His wisdom is unfathomable. 

He giveth power to the fainting, 

And increase of strength to the feeble. 

Youths may faint and grow weary. 

And young men may stumble and fall; 

But they who trust in Yahweh renew their strength, 

They shall mount on wings as eagles, 

They shall run and not be weary, 

They shall walk and not faint, ^s 

The Old Scottish Communion Psalm, Psalm 103. 

This Psalm has become a classic in our King James 
Version, and the newer translations do not change the mean- 
ing of the phrases appreciably. Certain lines seem to have 
been added to the original Hebrew, since they destroy the 
symmetry of the poem. These are verses 4b, 5b, 8, 16, 
18-22. With these omissions there are just seven strophes 
of four lines each. If read aloud in this form the rhythm 
and balance can be better appreciated. The last four verses 
are not in the same tone or style and appear to have been 
added at quite a late date to make it more suitable for 
public worship. This psalm represents the compassion and 
forgiving love of God in an even more Christlike way than 
Psalm 104. It should be learned by heart.^* 

52 The stars. 

53 See Cheyne's, McFadyen's and Kent's translations and arrangements. 

54 Notice the marginal reading of verse 5 in the Revised Version. 



HEBREW POETRY 183 



OTHER CHOICE LYRICS 

The Great Confession, Psalm 51. 

"That most searching of all Psalms of confession." 

While this Psalm has been associated with David on 
account of the title prefixed, which does not belong with 
the Psalm itself, modern scholars think it could not have 
been written by him, for the language bears the marks of 
a much later age. It is thought to have been exilic or post- 
exilic and to be the confession of community sin. The 
Israelites felt that the captivity was a great punishment for 
their national wrong-doing ; their sin was against their God, 
not against the nations who had punished them. The last 
clause of verse 4 would then mean that God's dealings with 
His people had been justified, that Israel ought not to retain 
any bitter feeling against Him. 

But even though it may have been used as a community 
confession, it rings so true to the sincerest and most pro- 
found personal contrition that it seems as if it must origi- 
nally have sprung from some individual's experience. The 
Hebrews of all ancient nations had the deepest sense of 
sin before a righteous God. They knew what it meant to 
be contrite and to be forgiven; and with the forgiveness 
came a joy quite surpassing the joys of nations living only 
for the surface pleasures of a materialistic life. 

This poem consists of four strophes of ten lines each. 
By analyzing each strophe we can see more readily the 
depth of feeling and progress of thought in the whole. 
Strophe I expresses honesty and straightforwardness in 
facing sin, in calling it by its right name without excuses; 
it also expresses a deep desire of the soul to be made clean 
and right and a recognition of God's character as loving and 
tender but just, who cannot forgive without justification for 
it. Strophe II expresses the deepest kind of contrition; it 
is the same thought as above but more searching. There is 
an effort to find the origin and cause of the trouble, and to 
learn the ultimate demands of a holy God. There is a recog- 



184 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

nition that a gteat cleansing is necessary, as of the leper, but 
also that joy and gladness is possible with it. 

Strophe III picks up the thought of cleansing in the last 
stanza and shows that the trouble is within, not without, 
the man, and that he can never expect to be happy without 
the presence of God in his heart. He expresses the deepest 
desire to restore such a consciousness and calls on God him- 
self to help him get it back. Out of his own need springs 
the missionary purpose to help others to find God too. The 
last strophe adds to this thought of a witness in Strophe 
III, and brings out the contrast between real devotion to 
God and dependence upon ritual for one's religious ex- 
pression. This psalm has much the same idea as is found 
in the prophet Hosea in showing that one must be made 
right in the very place where he has been wrong, thus get- 
ting at the cause of the disease and cleaning it out alto- 
gether. 

A Meditation and Prayer, Psalm 90 : 1-12. 

This psalm has been called "the dirge of a world" ex- 
pressed in *'sad and stately music." Again, ''the ninetieth 
psalm might be cited as perhaps the most sublime of human 
composition, the deepest in feeling, the loftiest in theologi- 
cal conception, the most magnificent in its imagery." The 
title attached to it attributes it to Moses, but such author- 
ship is highly improbable, even if it is in the spirit of the 
great pioneer leader. 

Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place 

In all generations. 

Before the mountains were brought forth, 

Or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, 

Even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. 

Thou turnest man back to dust, 

And sayest, Return, ye children of men. 

For a thousand years in Thy sight 

Are but as yesterday when it is past. 

As a watch in the night thou dost flood them away.^s 

65 i. e. The years. 



HEBREW POETRY 185 

In the morning they are like grass which groweth up. 

In the evening it is cut down and withereth. 

For we are consumed in Thine anger, and in Thy wrath 

are we troubled. 
Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, 
Our secret sins in the light of Thy countenance. 

For all our days do decline ; 

In Thy wrath we bring ou' years to an end; 

As a sigh are the days of our years, 

And their breadth is travail and trouble, 

For it is soon gone and we fly away. 

Who knoweth the power of thine anger, 
Or can number the awful deeds of thy wrath! 
So teach us to number our days, 
That we may get a mind of wisdom. 
Return, O Lord, how long? 

Be sorry for Thy servants. 

O satisfy us in the morning with Thy kindness, 

That we may rejoice and be glad all our days. 

Make us glad according to the days Thou hast afflicted us, 

And the years wherein we have seen evil. 

Eet Thy work appear unto Thy servants, 

And Thy glory unto their children. 

And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us ; 

And estabHsh Thou the work of our hands upon us ; 

Yea, the work of our hands estabHsh Thou it.^^ 

It will be noticed that this Psalm contains seven strophes 
of five lines each ; the last is considered by many scholars to 
be a liturgical addition added for use in the temple service. 
The first two seem to be of universal import; in the third 
the troubles of this particular nation apparently are in- 
tended. Yet it has been remarked upon by many students 
of the Psalms that their local significance is buried in the 
deep meaning applicable to all humanity. Athanasius long 
ago said, "He who uses the Psalms is as one who speaks 
his own words, and each one sings them as if they 
had been written for his own case, and not as if they 
had been spoken by some one else, or were meant to 
apply to some one else." Gladstone said, "In the Psalms 

5<i This is the translation of the Authorized Version with a few changes sug- 
gested in the International Critical Commentary. 



186 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

is the whole music of the human heart, when touched 
by the hand of its maker, in all its tones that whisper 
or swell: for every hope or fear, for every sigh and for 
every pang, for every form of strength and languor, of dis- 
quietude and rest." This is true even though certain verses 
contain some ideas of God which most people would modify 
to-day, such as a God of wrath bringing afflictions upon 
people as punishments, rather than the deeds of the people 
themselves bringing such results inevitably. Certainly man's 
faith in God was never more sublimely expressed than in 
the first stanza, nor the heartfelt prayer of a sincere soul 
more effectively uttered than in the twelfth verse, '*So teach 
us to number our days, that we may get a mind of wis- 
dom." 

The Psalm will reward close study, revealing, as it does, 
a progress of thought from stanza to stanza. From the 
eternal God, worthy of man's confidence, the poet passes 
to the contrast of man's littleness and frailty. In the third 
and fourth stanzas the reason for his transitoriness is sug- 
gested in his sin and lack of harmony with God, and the 
fifth gives expression to the simple, earnest prayer of an 
honest soul. The sixth suggests that the answer to the 
prayer has already been anticipated and that there is ground 
for confidence and joy in the assurance that God can make 
right a twisted world. Even though this was undoubtedly 
used as a national hymn it must have grown out of a deep 
personal experience. 

A Song of Trust, Psalm 91. 

This psalm is a very jubilant song of trust. It Is more 
than that, it is a deep revelation of the Hebrew religious 
genius. It represents man as entering into the secret place, 
the intimate place of God's abode, and abiding there him- 
self. Such a relationship has been established between him- 
self and God that his experience of God is not flitting and 
intermittent, but constant. This "secret place," this retreat 
of the soul, is not an inn at which he stops occasionally but 
his "dwelling-place," his "habitation," his home. It reminds 



HEBREW POETRY 187 

one of Psalm 25, where the phrase "the secret of the 
Lord" in the King James Version is translated in the Re- 
vised Version "the friendship of the Lord," and by Doctor 
Briggs thus: "the intimacy of the Lord have they." It 
reminds us of Thoreau^s characterization of friendship: 
"Where my Friend lives there are all riches, and every at- 
traction, and no slight obstacle can keep me from him. The 
language of Friendship is not words but meaning; it is an 
intelligence above language. What puny word shall he utter 
whose very breath is thought and meaning?" Yet because 
of the deep significance of such a relationship with God, 
the words which are inspired by it are lifted up above the 
ordinary plane, so that such a psalm as this merits the dis- 
tinction of being "simple," "beautiful," "serene," "stately." 
The same word "dwelling-place" is emphasized in this psalm 
as in the previous one, only here the awesomeness and gran- 
deur of such a thought as dwelling in the abode of the 
Almighty is permeated with the trustful, comfortable feeling 
of being at home, of absolute assurance under the shadow 
of such protection, and this notwithstanding the fact that 
the favorite expression for God in this poem is "the Most 
High." The Hebrew love of contrast is again brought out : 
"The solemn sadness of Psalm ninety is set in strong relief 
by the sunny brightness of happy, perfect trust in the Divine 
protection." 

The change in tense from the first person to the third 
and back again has puzzled translators and seems to indi- 
cate a more or less dramatic arrangement for antiphonal 
use in the temple service, or the way in which the poet 
speaks now for himself and then addresses the people and 
finally is spokesman for God. It is to be noted that Jesus 
was quite familiar with this psalm, for it was these words 
which came to Him in the scene of His temptation. That 
it was used as a public expression of worship is doubtless 
true, but here again the very personal character of the ex- 
perience leads one to believe that it must have sprung origi- 
nally from the poet's own profound realization of the inner 
life. His trust is not uttered in such broad, general terms as 



188 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

in Psalm 90. He rejoices over personal preservation from 
evils, over the fact that God loves him especially and pro- 
tects him from the hidden dangers of his daily path, from 
disease and accident; he seems jubilant because he has 
discovered the key to life that takes away all fear and 
makes him free and happy as an individual. If this is 
not quite so broad and altruistic as the message which con- 
sciously includes the whole earth and all people, yet it is 
the first great cause for joy in the experience of those who 
know this inner way, and it bears with it the implication 
that such a discovery is meant for all who will learn the 
way. 

The familiar King James Version is given here except for 
one or two words and the omission of verse eight which 
seems out of place in thought and language and is regarded 
as a gloss. 

First Voice 
He that dwelleth In the secret place of the Most High 
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 
I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, 
My God ; in Him will I trust. 

Second Voice 
Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, 
And from the noisome pestilence. 
He shall cover thee with His feathers, 
And under His wings shalt thou trust. 
His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. 
Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; 
Nor for the arrow that flieth by day; 
Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness ; 
Nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. 
A thousand shall fall at thy side, 
And ten thousand at thy right hand; 
But it shall not come nigh thee. 

First Voice 
For thou. Lord, art my refuge. 

Second Voice 
Thou hast made the Most High thy habitation. 
There shall no evil befall thee. 
Neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. 



HEBREW POETRY 189 

For He shall give His angels charge over thee, 

To keep thee in all thy ways. 

They shall bear thee up in their hands. 

Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. 

Thou shalt tread upon the serpent and adder; 

The young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. 

The Voice of God 

Because he hath set his love upon Me, 

Therefore will I deliver him ; 

I will set him on high because he hath known My name. 

He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; 

I will be with him in trouble ; 

I will deliver him, and honor him, 

With long life will I satisfy him. 

And show him my salvation. ^^ 

In Praise of Love, / Corinthians 13. 

This wonderful song of Saint Paul in praise of love is 
quite apparently a lyric poem, revealing at once the char- 
acteristic Hebrev^ parallelism although written in Greek. 
Again, as in "The Lord's Prayer," we see the fact illustrated 
that when a Hebrew rose to his greatest heights of feeling 
and expression, he reverted to the rhythmical form native to 
his race, although he was speaking in another tongue. This 
is said to be "the greatest, strongest, deepest thing Paul ever 
wrote," "among the finest passages in the sacred, or, indeed, 
in any writings"; "everywhere we find not the meditated 
artificiality of the rhetorician, counting the rhythm of sen- 
tences, but the natural radiation of hidden greatness." It 
is to be noticed that this lyric of Love is written by the 
great apostle of Faith; it is the poetry of faith. Dean 
Stanley imagined that the amanuensis stopped and looked 
up in surprise as Paul began to dictate this, with his face lit 
up, in the midst of his dissertation on Spiritual Gifts. While 
this chapter is a step in that dissertation it is in itself a 
complete and beautiful whole. Where did Paul get such 
a picture of love? It has been suggested that in place of 
the word love we could well read the name, Jesus. It is 
Paul's picture of love incarnate. 

57 For this arrangement and discussion of the same see Alexander MacLaren, 
Expositor's Bible, Psalms, and W. F. Cobb, The Book of Psalms^ 



190 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, 

But have not love, 

I am become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. 

And if I have the gift of prophecy, 

And know all mysteries and all knowledge, 

And if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, 

But have not love, 

I am nothing. 

And if I bestow all my goods to feed the poor. 

And if I give my body to be burned, 

But have not love, 

It profiteth me nothing. 

Love suffereth long, and is kind ; 

Love envieth not. 

Love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 

Doth not behave itself unseemly, 

Seeketh not its own, 

Is not provoked, 

Taketh not account of evil, 

Rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, 

But rejoiceth with the truth, 

Beareth all things, 

Beheveth all things, 

Hopeth all things, 

Endureth all things. 

Love never faileth. 

But whether there be prophecies. 

They shall be done away. 

Whether there be tongues. 

They shall cease; 

Whether there be knowledge. 

It shall be done away, 

For we know in part, 

And we prophesy in part; 

But when that which is perfect is come, 

That which is in part shall be done away. 

When I was a child, I spake as a child, 

I felt as a child, I thought as a child : 

Now that I am become a man, 

I have put away childish things. 

For now we see in a mirror darkly; 

But then face to face : 

Now I know in part; 

But then shall I know fully 

Even as also I was fully known. 

But now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; 

And the greatest of these is love. 

Compare verses 4-8a with Dr. Moffatt's translation. 

Love is very patient, very kind. 
Love knows no jealousy; 



HEBREW POETRY I9I 

Love makes no parade, gives itself no airs, 

Is never rude, never selfish. 

Never irritated, never resentful ; 

Love is never glad when others go wrong, 

Love is gladdened by goodness, 

Always slow to expose, 

Always eager to beheve the best. 

Always hopeful, always patient. 

Love never disappears. 

If we study these stanzas carefully we see how Paul 
progressed from the statement that love is the essential 
factor at the heart of all true character, to the description 
of its wonderful characteristics, finally asserting his con- 
viction of its eternal durability. 

Our own poet Richard Watson Gilder has expressed much 
the same thought but in a very different way in his beauti- 
ful little lyric, After Song. 

Through love to light, O wonderful the way 

That leads from darkness to the perfect day! 

From darkness and from sorrow of the night 

To morning that comes singing o'er the sea. 

Through love to light ! Through light, O God, to Thee, 

Who art the love of love, the Eternal light of light! 

BOOKS TO CONSULT 

on 

Hebrew Poetry 

Cobb, W. F. — The Book of Psalms. 

CoHu, J. R. — The Bible and Modern Thought. 

DuHM, Bernhard — The Twelve Prophets. 

Encyclopcedia Biblica. 

Expositors' Bible — Psalms, I Corinthians. 

Gordon, A. R. — Poets of the Old Testament. 

Hastings Bible Dictionary. 

International Critical Commentary — Deuteronomy, Psalms, I Corin- 

thians. 
Jastrow, Morris — The Book of Job. 
King, E. G. — Early Religious Poetry of the Hebrews. 
McFadyen, Edgar — Isaiah in Modern Speech. 
MoFFATT, James — The New Testament, A New Translation. 
Peters, John P. — The Psalms as Liturgies. 
Rice, J. A. — The Old Testament in the Life of To-day. 
Smith, G. A.— Early Hebrew Poetry. 

Deuteronomy, Cambridge Bible. 
Student's Old Testament. 
Wild, L. H. — Geographic Influences in Old Testament Masterpieces. 



Chapter VI 

DRAMATIC LITERATURE 

The Israelites were a dramatic folk, much more so than 
are western peoples to-day. They thought in pictures even 
in their ordinary transactions and they accompanied their 
words with gesticulations and significant tones of the voice ; 
they even acted out the news of the day or prophecies of 
future events. They did not wait to have a stage erected 
and people called together; they "acted" as they walked 
along the road or visited their neighbors. In the book of 
Kings it is recorded that a son of the prophets wanted to 
warn the king of the foolishness of his dealings with the 
enemy ; he got a man to wound him and then "disguised him- 
self with his headband over his eyes" and waited by the 
roadside until the king's chariot went by ; then he called out 
to him and told a story about letting his enemy escape; at 
the right moment he removed his headband and revealed 
himself as a prophet who was speaking in a parable to the 
king.^ In the twentieth chapter of Isaiah we are told how 
that prophetic statesman, who could not get the ear of the 
people any other way, for they had no newspapers in those 
days, dressed up in a captive's garb and went from house to 
house warning the people that they would soon be captives 
like that unless they could induce their rulers to change their 
policy. Isaiah gave his little boy what seems to us an im- 
possible name, Maher-shalal-hashbaz, signifying "Spoil 
speedeth, prey hasteth," and then took hijn about with him 
in the market place where he had put up "a great tablet" 
with the same words printed on it in large letters, pointing 
to the child as a warning to all parents and saying, "Before 
the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father and My 
mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria 

1 I Kings 20: 35-43- 

192 



DRAMATIC LITERATURE 193 

shall be carried away." ^ In the book of Ezekiel we are told 
that the Lord commanded the prophet to take a tile and 
draw on it a picture of a besieged city, portraying the en- 
gines of warfare,^ This is not so strange as some of the 
commands coming to Ezekiel, such as to lie upon his left 
side for three hundred and ninety days and again on his 
right side forty days, bearing the iniquity, first of the house 
of Israel and then of the house of Judah; or again in the 
fifth chapter, **And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp 
sword ; as a barber's razor shalt thou take it unto thee, and 
shalt cause it to pass upon thy head and upon thy beard; 
then take thee balances to weigh and divide the hair." Some 
of it was to be burned, some of it was to be scattered to the 
wind, all of it was to be a symbol and a warning of future 
events. Many of Ezekiel's pictures are very oriental and 
strange to us, colored as they were by the environment and 
beliefs of those days. They were doubtless never intended 
to be acted out, being merely imaginary pictures, but the 
point here is that they were pictures of highly dramatic 
action. 

Very much of this dramatic literature was poetry. Even 
the lyrics were dramatically conceived, as we have seen, 
when they imagined different voices singing different parts, 
as in the twenty-fourth psalm and the ninety-first. When 
the poet was simply talking to himself he sometimes shifted 
the scene as his mood shifted. 



DRAMATIC LYRICS 

Psalm 3, At Night, verses 1-4; In the Morning, verses 5-8. 
This psalm shows how at night the psalmist is very 
despondent, utterly discouraged with the obstacles which 
overwhelm him. But he bethinks him of the way God 
has helped him in the past and so pours out his troubles 
to Him expecting that He will answer, and then falls 
asleep. In the morning when he awakes he is refreshed 

2 Isaiah 8, 
8 Ezekiel 4. 



194. A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

and so confident of God's help that even a mighty 
host of enemies could not daunt him. The superscription 
assigns the psalm to the time in David's life when he was 
obliged to flee before the pursuit of his son, Absalom. It 
fits in very well with such a setting. Even if it was not 
written by David it is thought to belong to the earlier psalms. 

Following is the metrical translation of this psalm to be 
found in *'The Bay Psalm Book." It is given here simply 
to show an interesting epoch in our own American literature, 
when the Bible was the chief concern and when "divines" 
knew their Hebrew and sought to remedy defects in transla- 
tion which they instinctively felt, although their own at- 
tempts seem to us to fall considerably short. This Psalm 
Book was the hymn book of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, 
printed in 1640, and was the first book to be printed in 
America in English, although two little pamphlets had ap- 
peared before this. The Pilgrims had brought with them 
Ainsworth's "Book of Psalms ; Englished both in prose and 
metre," and the Puritans of Massachusetts Bay "The Whole 
Booke of Psalmes : collected into English meeter by T. 
Sternhold, J. Hopkins, and others — with apt notes to sing 
them withall." But some of the extreme independents even 
in England had become much dissatisfied with the latter ver- 
sion, calHng it "Hopkins, his Jigges." Cotton Mather ex- 
pressed the views of the Massachusetts Bay colonists thus : 
"Tho' they blessed God for the Religious Endeavours of 
them who translated the Psalms into the Meetre usually an- 
nexM at the End of the Bible, yet they beheld in the Transla- 
tion so many Detractions from. Additions to, and Variations 
of, not only the Text, but the very Sense of the Psalmist, 
that it was an Ofifence unto them." This led to the attempt 
at a more accurate translation, precisely what scholars have 
been trying to do ever since, and "the chief Divines in the 
Country, took each of them a Portion to be Translated." 

At the close of their Preface the following apology is 
made : 

"If therefore the verses are not alwayes so smooth and 
elegant as some may desire or expect ; let them consider that 



DRAMATIC LITERATURE 195 

God's Altar needs not our poUishlngs; (Ex. 20) for wee 
have respected rather a plaine translation, than to smooth 
our verses with the sweetness of any paraphrase, and soe 
have attended Conscience rather than Elegance, fidelity 
rather than poetry, in translating the hebrew words into 
English language and David's poetry into english meetre; 
that soe we may sing in Sion the Lord's songs of prayse ac- 
cording to his owne will ; until hee take us from hence, and 
wipe away all our teares, & bid us enter into our masters 
joye to sing eternall Halleluiahs." How well they succeeded 
may be judged by this sample. 

Lord, how many are my foes? 
how many up against me stand? 
Many say to my soule noe helpe 
in God for him at hand, 

But thou Lord art my shield, my glory 
and the up-lifter of my head, 
With voyce to God I cal'd, who from 
his holy hill he answered. 

1 leyd me downe, I slept, I wakt, 
for Jehovah did me up iDeare : 
People that set against me round, 
ten thousand of them I'le not feare. 
Arise, O Lord, save me my God, 

for all mine enimies thou hast stroke 
upon the cheek-bone : & the teeth 
of the ungodly thou hast broke. 
This, and all such salvation, 
belongeth unto Jehovah ; 
thy blessing is, and let it be 
upon thine own people. 

The Song of Songs, A Series of Love Lyrics. 

The modern historical and literary study of the Bible has 
made a great change in the interpretation of Canticles, or 
the Song of Songs, sometimes called the Song of Solomon ; 
and yet, when one goes far enough with it, it is not, after all, 
so radically opposed to the older conception. The tradi- 
tional view has been that the book was an allegory of divine 
love ; the modern view is that it is a series of lyrics celebrat- 
ing the most ardent raptures and passionate devotion of 
.human love. The history of its place in the canon is inter- 



196 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

esting and enlightening as to its real interpretation. No 
one can read it without noting its very emotional pictures, 
its highly sensuous images, its exceedingly free and ardent 
expressions of love. Here is a man and a maid, a lover and 
the one beloved, singing love songs to one another with an 
abandon and an exuberance rather startling in a book of 
religion. 

Why are these songs here in the Bible ? This was a ques- 
tion which puzzled the Jewish rabbis. Finding it in the 
collection with the rest of their religious literature, they 
took it as having religious significance, although the name 
of God is mentioned but once. Should it be left in the 
canon? They decided, at the Council of Jamnia in 90 A. D., 
that it should, for, living in the day of allegorical interpreta- 
tions, they thought this must be an allegory, celebrating 
really the love of the human heart for God and God's yearn- 
ing for man's love in return for His. God is the bride- 
groom, then, and Israel his bride, as in the prophet Hosea. 
The Christian church adopted this idea as it took over the 
Hebrew scriptures for its own : Christ, God's son, was the 
bridegroom and the Church his bride. And what happened 
then ? Upon this little book was focused a great deal of the 
mystical interpretation of Christianity. At the very heart of 
the Christian faith lies the power of the human soul to love; 
that is the meaning of the term Christian devotion. Men 
learn something of its compelling and wonderful power 
through human love, but its divineness appears only when 
recognized as coming from God. It then becomes that "love 
that will not let me go" of which our own blind poet, George 
Matheson, sang in his beautiful hymn, after the weakness 
of human love had thrown him back upon the divine. All 
mystics have felt the reality of such experiences ; they know 
God's love because they have felt it. Even the keen, cold 
intellectualist who arrives at his truth through reason, has 
times when he appreciates another avenue of approach to 
God, as did Thomas Aquinas. To such souls it is a relief to 
let loose in even extravagant expression and imagery. This 
is the danger of the mystical temperament, as it is also a 



DRAMATIC LITERATURE 197 

sign of sensitiveness and capacity for a rich and real experi- 
ence. To such disciples the Song of Songs has been a wel- 
come addition to devotional literature, and they have felt 
shocked at a secular interpretation, as did Rabbi Akiba when 
he forbade its being sung at banquets and declared "all the 
Writings are holy, but the Song is the holiest of all." Even 
after the modem historical and literary scholar concludes 
that these songs were written to celebrate a marriage feast 
and were intended originally to refer to the passion of 
human love at its highest this love is recognized as the "very 
flame of Yahweh" and taken out of a merely sensuous realm. 

For love is strong as death; 
Jealousy is hard as Sheol; 
Its flashes are flashes of fire, 
Its flames are flames of Yahweh. 
No waters can quench love, 
Nor can the deep floods drown it* 

These lines have been called "that great paean of triumphant 
love, the blended purity, tenderness and strength of which 
can hardly be matched in the poetry of passion." This per- 
haps explains in a measure the interesting career this little 
book has had in literary interpretation. However, when 
all due allowance is made for the sincerity of religious de- 
votion, these lyrics on the face of them are merely frank, 
free, exuberant expressions of the emotion of human love 
in sensuous imagery. 

There are three interpretations which modern scholars 
have held regarding its composition. At first it was thought 
to be a connected dramatic poem relating the amours of 
King Solomon, who on one of his royal pilgrimages in the 
north country fell in love with a beautiful, naive, rustic 
maiden, whom he brought home with him to his harem. 
But she had a country lover to whom she had given her 
heart and no enticements of the king nor allurements of the 
court could wean her from her loyalty to him. Her home- 
sickness in Jerusalem was irreparable save by returning her 

4 Dr. Gordon's translation, Seng of Sol. 8:6, 7. 



198 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

to her rustic life and beautiful vineyards, to cling to the man 
of her own heart's choice. 

This is a very interesting conception and with some rear- 
rangement and filling in of dramatic- setting the Song can 
be made to fit such a theory and it thus accounts for the 
reference to Solomon. But there are grave difficulties in the 
way, in the lack of unity apparent and the necessity of imag- 
ining the plot. A much more widely accepted view is that it 
is a cycle of love songs sung at the seven days' marriage 
feast which occurred after a wedding. This is the custom 
of Syrian villages even down to recent times, the young men 
and maidens arranging a kind of play, representing the 
groom as king and his bride as queen. They would then 
take Solomon's name as that of their brilliant, pleasure-lov- 
ing sovereign, the young men acting as Solomon's body 
guard and the maidens as "the daughters of Jerusalem." 
This interpretation seems more natural and to have more 
real background for it. 

The cycle of songs then falls into seven cantos — T, 
1:2-2:7; II, 2:8-17; III, 3:1-11; IV, 4:1-5:1; V, 5:2- 
6:9; VI, 6:10-8:4; VII, 8:5-14. Another arrangement 
makes four cantos as follows : I, 1 : 2-3 : 5 ; II, 3 : 6-6 : 9 ; 
III, 6: 10-8:4; IV, 8:5-14. 

There is also a third conception, that it is simply a group 
of love songs, not wedding songs necessarily. Some of the 
finest of them are given here merely as examples of the style. 

(1:7, 8)5 
A Shepherdess — 

Tell me, thou loved of my soul, 
Where thou tendest thy sheep; 
For why should I wander in vain 
By the flocks of thy comrades? 

Answer — 

If thou know not thy loved one's pastures, 

Thou fairest of women, 

Go forth in the tracks of the sheep. 

By the tents of the herdsmen ! 

5 The translation and arrangement is for the most part that of A. R. Gordon. 



DRAMATIC LITERATURE I99 

(2:1-3) 



The Bride- 



I am a rose of Sharon, 
A lily of the valleys. 

The Bridegroom — 

As a lily among the thistles 

Is my love among the daughters. 

The Bride — 

As an apple tree in the forest 
Is my loved one among the sons. 
In his shadow I rest with delight, 
And his fruit is sweet to my taste. 



(2:8-13) 

A Maiden of her Lover — 

Hark, my beloved ! 

See, he comes, 

Leaping over the mountains. 

Skipping over the hills! 

Lo! there he standeth 
Against our wall ! 
I look through the lattice, 
I peer through the panes. 

Then answers my loved one. 
And speaks to me thus : 
'Arise, my love ; 
My fair one, come! 

For, lo ! the winter is past. 

The rain is over and gone. 

The flowers appear in the land, 

And the voice of the ring-dove is heard. 

The fig-tree ripens its fruit, 

And the vines give forth their fragrance. 

Arise, then, my love; 

My fair one, come!* 



200 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

(4:9, 10) 
The Lover-^ 

Thou hast captured my heart, O my sister, my bride, 
With one glance of thine eyes, with one turn of thy neck. 
How fair is thy love, O my sister, my bride ! 
How much better is thy love than wine.® 

(5:2) 
The Bride — 

I was asleep, but my mind was awake : 

Hark! My beloved is knocking! 

[He said], 'Open to me, my sister, 

My friend, my dove, my undefiled. 

For my head is filled with dew, 

My locks with the drops of the night/ 

[But I said] 'I have put off my garment; 

How shall I put it on? 

I have washed my feet; 

How shall I soil them?' 

My beloved took his hand away from the latch. 

Then my heart was moved for him, 

I rose up to open to my beloved. 

(5:10ff.) 

The Maiden — 

My beloved is radiant and ruddy, 
The chief of ten thousand; 
His head is as gold most pure, 
His locks like the raven. 

His mouth is most sweet — 
He is all of him lovely. 
This is my loved one, my friend, 
Ye daughters of Jerusalem. 

(6:10) 

The Lover — 

She looks out like the dawn. 

Fair as the moon. 

Pure as the sun. 

Awful as an army with banners. 

6 See Student's Old Testament for this stanza and the next two. 



DRAMATIC LITERATURE 201 

(7:10-13) 



The Bride — 



I am my loved one's. 

And to me is his longing. 

Come then, my love, let us go to the field, 

'Mong the henna flowers let us lodge! 

Then at dawn let us out to the vineyards, 
To see if the vine be in bud, 
If the grape's tender blossom have opened, 
Or the pomegranates have flowered! 

For the mandrakes give forth their fragrance; 

At our door are all precious fruits. 

All of them new and old, 

I have kept for thee, my beloved. 

Suggested Study 

Dr. Gordon's chapter on The Song of Songs in Poets of 
the Old Testament is especially recommended. 

The three interpretations can be found in more extended 
form ( 1 ) in Moulton's Modern Reader's Bible and Literary 
Study of the Bible, (2) in Studenfs Old Testament; Wood 
and Grant, The Bible as Literature; and Hastings, One Vol- 
ume Dictionary of the Bible, (3) in Gordon's Poets of the 
Old Testament. A possible historical coincidence and an ar- 
rangement in four canticles is suggested in Genung's Guide- 
hook to the Biblical Literature. It would be well to take 
the Revised Version and try to trace carefully each of these 
interpretations, to see which seems to you to fit the text best. 
The Revised Version is much better than the King James in 
the study of this book. 

DRAMATIC VISIONS 

Some of the Biblical writers seem to have been carried 
away from earth in a mystic flight and to have seen the 
truth behind events, human as well as divine, their only way 
of interpreting their visions to others being by means of 



202 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

highly symbolical language. These writers are usually called 
apocalyptic writers, and their writings apocalypses. But it 
was not until near the close of the Old Testament period 
that the. definite type of "apocalyptic literature" with very 
complicated symbolism appeared, such as the Book of 
Daniel. Then followed the Book of Enoch, of Baruch, and 
of many others, which form the Old Testament Apocrypha. 
Certain words and phrases were adopted, the formulae of 
that type of writings, with a certain characteristic system of 
angelic beings. It was a more or less stiff and formal con- 
ception, portraying usually the coming of God's Kingdom 
suddenly and very dramatical!}^ from the heavens. The 
dramatic visions of the earlier prophets are not strictly of 
this school. They partake much more of the characteristics 
of genuine mystical and spiritual visions. There were, to 
be sure, spiritual and ethical conceptions in the more formal 
apocalyptic books, but in the earlier prophetic revelations 
the spirit of the seer seems free and untrammelled, although 
using symbolism to a high degree. 

In order to get the import of *'a vision" it will be well to 
consider carefully Professor Genung's definition : "A vision, 
to be made intelligible to others, must be visualized, that is, 
put into terms of sense perception. . . . But beyond the 
sensible image there is an inner meaning which can be appre- 
hended only as the vision awakens in the one to whom it is 
told a spiritual state similar to that of the teller. . . . The 
visual image is a symbol. ... A prophetic vision is 'thus 
like Jesus' parables on a larger scale." ^ 

In connection with these visions it will be interesting to 
compare some of William Blake's Memorable Fancies, for 
his visions carry out Professor Genung's definition. In one 
of them he begins, "The Prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel dined 
with me." Then he questions the prophets : "I also asked 
Isaiah what made him go naked and barefoot three years. 
He answered, 'The same that made our friend, Diogenes the 
Grecian.' I then asked Ezekiel why he ate dung, and lay 
so long on his right and left side. He answered, The de- 

7 Genung, Franklin, Guidebook to the Biblical Lit£rature, pp. 664 ff. 



DRAMATIC LITERATURE 203 

sire of raising other men into a perception of the infinite.' " 
He begins another thus : "As I was walking among the fires 
of hell, delighted with the enjoyments of genius, which to 
angels look like torment and insanity, I collected some of 
their proverbs, thinking that as the sayings used in a nation 
mark its character, so the proverbs of hell show the nature 
of infernal wisdom better than any description of buildings 
or garments." 

Isaiah's Vision, Isaiah 6. 

This is known as "Isaiah's Call" and is a very significant 
vision. We often lose its deep import by not apprehending 
its symbolism, also by not understanding the historical set- 
ting, which is quite essential to its meaning. "In the year 
that King Uzziah died" gives the key to the whole situation. 
King Uzziah had been a most popular ruler for many years 
and during his long reign had kept off the enemies and en- 
couraged industries until the nation was more prosperous 
than it had been since King David's time. But towards the 
end he grew very much enamored of his own importance 
and committed what to the Israelites was an act of great 
sacrilege in assuming the office of the priest, setting him aside 
and entering "the holy place" to oflFer the incense. It was an 
oriental custom for the king now and again to assume the 
priest's office as giving him more authority, even sometimes 
claiming divine origin as did the great queen Hatshepsut in 
Egypt ; but to the Hebrew who recognized only a theocracy 
and conceived of the king as simply the servant of 
Yahweh, such an act amounted to nothing short of 
blasphemy. The priests attempted to stop King Uzziah 
and there ensued a conflict which, according to the Chron- 
icler, made him "very wroth" and "while he was wroth the 
leprosy brake forth on his forehead," the disease doubtless 
being already in his blood. Of course, according to the law, 
he had now to be ostracized from all society and for thirteen 
years he dragged out a living death. This appeared to the 
people of Jerusalem as a direct punishment from God for 
sacrilege. 



204, A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

Isaiah, a little boy when it happened, had probably 
looked up to the great king as his hero, and when this 
tragic event occurred was deeply impressed. He was a 
young man when the news of Uzziah's death was spread 
through the city, perhaps even in the streets as his funeral 
train went by. It was at this time or soon after that he 
found himself in the temple and had this vision. It was a 
vision of the holiness of the Lord, of the people's sin, super- 
ficially regarding worship as a rite and not an act of rever- 
ence. The vision of the enormity of such sin doubtless came 
over Isaiah as he pondered upon the sad ending of Uzziah's 
life. He felt that the king was only an exponent of the atti- 
tude of the entire nation of which Isaiah himself was a citi- 
zen; he, too, was a sinner in countenancing it. And as he 
pondered he was sure that there was a crying need for this 
message to be brought home to the people. But how could 
that be done unless there was some one ready to go and 
speak it? Thus the challenge came to Isaiah. 

Four leading characteristics of this truly great statesman 
come out here in his response to the vision when it came to 
him thus in his youth; a fine sensitiveness to moral and 
spiritual truth ; humility in classing himself with all the rest 
of the people and accepting responsibility for their national 
sin; a quick response to need without stopping to dwell on 
the cost ; a perseverance to the end, even in the face of great 
discouragement and a stupid lack of response on the part 
of the people. 

In the year that King Uzziah died, I had a vision of the Lord 
seated on a high and lofty throne, and the skirts of His robe filled 
the Temple. Before Him were standing seraphs, each with six 
wings — two for covering the face, two the loins, and two to fly with ; 
and thus they kept calling one another: 

"Holy, holy, holy is Yahweh of Hosts, 
The whole earth is full of his glory." 

And the foundations of the threshold trembled at the voice of them 
that called, and the House began to fill with smoke. Then I said 

"Woe is me, for I am undone ; 
For a man of unclean hps am I, 



DRAMATIC LITERATURE 205 

And I dwell in a nation of unclean lips; 
And yet mine eyes have seen 
The King, Yahweh of Hosts." 

Then one of the seraphs flew tv^ me with a live coal in his hand, 
which with tongs he had taken from off the altar. With this he 
touched my mouth and said, 

"See, this hath touched thy lips: 
Thy guilt is past and thy sin forgiven." 

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 

"Whom shall I send? 
And who will go for us ? " 

And I said, 

"Here am I : send me.** 

Then He said, 

"Go and say to this people, 
'Hear ever, but understand never; 
See ever, but comprehend never.' 
Make thou the heart of this people callous, 
Dull thou their ears and besmear their eyes, 
Lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears. 
And their heart understand, and their health come again." 

Then I said, "O Lord, how long?" 

And he said, 

"Until they lie waste — 
Cities without inhabitant 
And houses without human beings — 
And the ground be left a desolation; 
And Yahweh remove men far away. 
And the forsaken places in the land be many: 
And should there be in it a tenth still left, 
That too, in its turn, must be given to the fire. 
Like the stump of an oak or a terebinth felled," ^ 

The Valley of Dry Bones, Ezekiel 37:1-14. 

However strange and complicated some of Ezekiers 
visions may seem to us, this one is very simple, its meaning 

8 See McFadyen and International Critical Commentary for the renderings and 
arrangement. This last section is supposed to have been written after the 
prophet had experienced discouragement and opposition. 



206 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

standing out quite obviously. There is a subtle strain of 
humor here also which brings a smile ; for if the essence of 
humor consists in vivid contrasts, what can be more point- 
edly contrasted than deadness and aliveness, than a valley of 
rattling dry bones and those same bones walking about hand 
in hand with the spirit of life in them? This is a com- 
munity vision, as were almost all of the prophetic visions of 
the Old Testament. Those of us who have ever seen a 
"dead" community begin to stir with a breath of life and 
by and by become a "live" place where the Spirit of the 
Lord is surely manifest, know that it is done in just this 
way. First, some individual dry bone begins to move closer 
to another and after a social earthquake or something of the 
sort a real community nearness is established; then at the 
psychological moment a great spiritual enthusiasm for some 
high cause sweeps across the city or the village, and lo ! the 
dry bones stand up on their feet, an exceeding great army. 
Even a very dead church or discouraged community can get 
a ray of hope from such a vision as this. 

The New Jerusalem, Revelation 21 : 1-22 : 5. 

The great writer of visions in the New Testament was 
"John the Seer," as he has been called, and his book of 
Revelation is cast in the apocalyptic style. Ezekiel has a 
symbolic vision of the Restored Jerusalem to encourage the 
Jews of the Captivity ; John pictures the New Jerusalem, the 
heavenly city; it is a part of his prophecy of the final tri- 
umph of Christianity, an anticipation of the time when God 
and men shall dwell together, when there shall be no sin 
and no sorrow, no black night of fear, distress and death. 

'(21:3,4; 24:3,4). 

Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, 
And He shall dwell with them, 
And they shall be His people, 
And He shall be their God. 

And God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes, 

And death shall be no more ; 

Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more. 

Neither shall there be any more curse. 



DRAMATIC LITERATURE 207 

And the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it: 

And His servants shall serve Him, 

And they shall see His face, 

And His name shall be on their foreheads. 

And there shall be no more night, 

And they have no need of light of lamp or light of sun, 
For the Lord God shall cause His face to shine upon them : 
And they shall reign forever and ever.^ 

Just before this, in the eighteenth chapter, the Seer has 
given a picture of the Fall of Rome under the guise of 
Babylon, reminding us very much of the wonderful Old 
Testament dirge on the Doom of Babylon.^^ To New Testa- 
ment writers Rome was the Babylon of the Old Testament, 
a city of utter worldliness and materialistic ideas, a city of 
greed and oppression, the capital of the empire that kept the 
whole world under its heel, and grievously persecuted the 
Christians. 

Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, 
And has become a habitation for demons, 
And a hold of every unclean and hateful spirit, 
And a hold of every unclean and hateful bird. 

For of the wine of her fornication hath she caused all the nations 

to drink; 
For the kings of the earth committed fornication with her. 
And the merchants of the earth waxed rich through the wealth of 

her wantonness. 

Come forth from her, my people, 
That ye have no fellowship with her sins, 
And that ye receive not of her plagues. 
For her sins have reached unto heaven. 
And God hath remembered her iniquities. 

Because she saith in her heart, 

I sit as queen,^ 

And am no widow, 

And I shall not see mourning. 

Therefore in one day shall her plagues come. 
Pestilence and mourning and famine, 
And she shall be burnt with fire ; 
For strong is the God who hath judged her. 

9 The translations are those of Dr. Charles in his very scholarly commentary 
recently published. 

10 See p. 172. 



208 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

And the kings of the earth who committed fornification and lived 
wantonly with her shall weep and wail over her, when they look 
upon. the smoke of her burning, standing afar off for the fear of 
her torment, saying, 

Woe, woe to the great city, 

Babylon, the strong city, 

For in one hour is thy judgment come. 

And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her, 
For no man buyeth their merchandise any more. 

Merchandise of gold and silver, and precious stone and pearls,. 

And fine linen and purple, and silk and scarlet. 

And all thyine wood, and every vessel of ivory, and every 

vessel of most precious wood. 
And brass and iron and marble. 

And cinnamon, and spice, and incense, 
And ointment, and frankincense, and wine, 
And oil, and fine flour, and wheat, 
And beasts, and sheep, and souls of men. 

The merchants of these things, who were made rich by her, shall 
stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning, 
saying. 

Woe, woe to the great city, 
That was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet. 
And adorned with gold, and precious stone, and pearl ; 
For in one hour are so great riches laid waste. 

The vision of the City of God is in direct contrast with 
this : "There shall not enter into it anything unclean or one 
that maketh an abomination or a lie"; but the glory and 
splendor of it is to be quite as dazzling, walls of precious 
stones and gates of pearl, streets of gold, and the glory of 
the Lord to lighten it. 

The City of God, Revelation 21 : 9-27. 

And then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls, 
which were full of the seven last plagues ; and he spake with me, 
saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride of the Lamb. And 
he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, 
and showed me the holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven 
from God, having the glory of God : her light was like unto a stone 
most precious, as it were a jasper stone, clear as crystal. She had 
a wall great and high ; she had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve 



DRAMATIC LITERATURE 209 

angels; and the names written thereon, which are the names of the 
twelve tribes of the children of Israel. On the east were three 
gates; and on the north three gates; and on the south three gates; 
and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve 
foundations, and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles 
of the Lamb. And he that spake with me had for a measure a 
golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the 
wall thereof. And the city lieth foursquare, and the length thereof 
is as great also as the breadth; and he measured the city with the 
reed, twelve thousand furlongs : the length and the breath and the 
height thereof are equal. And he measured the wall thereof, a hun- 
dred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, 
that is, of an angel. 

And the building of the wall thereof was jaspar: 
And the city was pure gold, like unto pure glass : 
And the foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with 
all manner of precious stones. 

The first foundation ^as jaspar; the second, sapphire; the third, 

chalcedony ; 
The fourth emerald; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; 
The seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; 
The tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. 

And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; 

Each one of the gates was of one pearl. 

And the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass. 

And I saw no temple therein; 

For the Lord God Almighty is the temple thereof. 

And the Lamb is the arm of the covenant therof. 

And the city hath no need of the sun, nor yet of the moon, to shine 

upon it : 
For the glory of the Lord doth lighten it. 
And the lamp thereof is the Lamb. 

And the nations shall walk by the light thereof : 

And the Kings of the earth do bring their glory with it. 

And the gates thereof shall not be shut day or night. 

And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it: 
And there shall not enter into it anything unclean or one that maketh 

an abomination or a lie; 
But only they that are written in the Lamb's book of life. 

In order to understand the symbolism of this vision one 
should study the picture in Ezekiel of his Restored Jerusa- 
lem; he saw the city measured off very exactly, with walls 



210 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

and gates, lodges and courts, and the temple. In John*s 
picture the Lord God is to be the temple. In Ezekiel's pic- 
ture the glory of the Lord filled the house, in John's vision 
His glory fills the city; in Ezekiel's healing waters were to 
flow from beneath the threshold of the temple and refresh 
the barren ground so that "upon the bank of the river were 
very many trees on the one side and on the other" ; in John's 
vision there is also a river making the banks so fruitful that 
they bear "the tree of life": 

And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal. 
Proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, 
In the midst of the street thereof : 
And on this side of the river and on that was the tree of life. 

Ezekiel's city was to be for the twelve tribes and for the 
strangers that came to live with them, but in John's Revela- 
tion the invitation is as universal as humanity's need. 

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. 

And let him that hcareth say, Come. 

And let him that is athirst come : 

Whosoever willeth let him take the water of life freely. 



Doctor Charles has called attention to the fact that the 
twelve precious stones were connected in the current belief 
of the time with the twelve signs of the Zodiac thus : 

1. The Ram — the amethyst. 

2. The Bull— the hyacinth. 

3. The Twins — the chrysoprase. 

4. The Crab — ^the topaz. 

5. The Lion — the beryl. 

6. The Virgin — ^the chrysolite. 

7. The Balance — ^the sardius. 

8. The Scorpion — the sardonyx. 

9. The Archer — ^the smaragdus. 
10. The Goat — the chalcedon. 

n. The Water-carrier — the sapphire. 
12. The Fishes — the jasper. 



DRAMATIC LITERATURE 211 

But John mentions the stones in exactly the reverse order 
of the way the astronomy of that day caused the sun to 
travel through the constellations, connecting the stones also 
with the names of the Twelve Tribes and the Twelve 
Apostles rather than the signs of the Zodiac, and using them 
in an ornamental sense. "Thus he deliberately disconnects 
the Holy City with the city of the gods." 

We should notice also what Doctor Charles says in his 
preface. "Nearly always when dealing with his greatest 
themes, the Seer's words assume — perhaps unconsciously at 
times — ^the form of parallelism familiar in Hebrew poetry. 
Even the strophe and antistrophe are found. To print such 
passages as prose is to rob them of half their force. It is 
not only the form that is thereby lost, but also much of the 
thought that in a variety of ways is reenforced by this paral- 
lelism. Though our author has for his theme the inevitable 
conflicts and antagonisms of good and evil, of God and the 
powers of darkness, yet his book is emphatically a Book of 
Songs. Dirges there are, indeed, and threnodies — they 
spring from the lips of the kings of the earth, its merchant 
princes, its seafolk, overwhelmed by the fall of the empire 
of this world and the destruction of its mighty ones — but 
a faith immeasurable, an optimism inexpugnable, a joy in- 
extinguishable press for utterance and take form in anthems 
of praise and gladness and thanksgiving, as the Seer follows 
in vision the varying fortunes of the world struggle, till at 
last he sees evil fully and finally destroyed, righteousness 
established for evermore, and all the faithful — even the 
weakest of God's servants amongst them — enjoying ever- 
lasting blessedness in the eternal City of God, bearing His 
name on their foreheads, and growing more and more into 
His likeness." Professor Genung has called this picture 
"the summary of an epic portrayal which, with all its wealth 
of symbolic imagery, is beyond expression sublime." 

With this should be pondered also the following remarks 
by another student of "the City of God." "Since long be- 
fore Abraham left Ur of the Chaldees, mankind has been 
seeking 'the City which hath the foundations, whose builder 



212 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

and maker is God/ In times of depression, they have looked 
for it in heaven, as Augustine did; in times of hope, they 
have spoken of reaHzing it here in this world, as William 
Blake did. But throughout his history man seems to have 
been drawn by this lure of a common life of peace and 
harmony and freedom, the city in which life will be made 
perfect, because God dwells with man. ... In Protes- 
tantism we have been somewhat vainly trying to reach a 
'social' interpretation of Christianity which will lie easily 
upon our fundamental individualism ; and the best we have 
done is to add a Christian social theory as a sort of post- 
script or footnote to our essential orthodoxy. But there 
is coming a new quality of religious experience which will 
be intrinsically social, so that men will not be able to dis- 
entangle their relation to God from their relation to their 
brethren. And that experience when it comes will be a 
vision of life as a whole under some image of a City of 
God, of men and women living together and doing together 
the great works of the Spirit, a community in which all 
work will be art and all art will be worship." ^^ 

DRAMATIC PROPHECY 

In Biblical literature dramatic visions contain prophecy 
as a rule, but prophetic utterances may be dramatic with- 
out being uttered in the form of visions. Examples of very 
vivid dramatic imagination are Micah's Address before the 
Mountains in Behalf of the Lord, The Oracle of The Fall 
of Babylon in Isaiah 21, and the two brief sketches already 
mentioned of the Fall of Nineveh in the book of Nahum. 

Micah's Address Before the Mountains in Behalf of the 
Lord, Micah 6:1-8. 

Oh, hear what Yahweh is speaking: 

Arise contend thou before the mountains, 
And let the hills hear thy voice. 

11 Dr. Richard Roberts, On, to the City of God, a pamphlet published by 
The Woman's Press. 



DRAMATIC LITERATURE 213 

Hear, O mountains, Yahweh's contention, 
Give ear, ye foundations of the earth! 

For Yahweh hath a complaint against His people, 
And He will contend with Israel : 
What have I done to thee, O my people, 
Wherein have I vexed thee? Accuse Mel 



(The people) 



Wherewith shall I come before Yahweh, 
And bow myself before the High God? 
Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, 
With calves a year old ? 

Will Yahweh be pleased with thousands of rams, 
With ten thousand rivers of oil? 
Shall I give to Him ray firstborn, 
My body's fruit for my sin? 

(Answer) 

He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; 
And what doth Yahweh require of thee, 
But to do justly and to love kindness, 
And to walk humbly with thy God ? 12 

The last verse is considered the best definition of religion 
ever made. It should be learned by heart. 

Another Picture of The Fall of Babylon, Isaiah 21 : 1-9. 
Some scholars class this dramatic fragment with ecstasy 
or vision. 

Oracle on the Wilderness 

[The poet hears a terrible war from the southeast, the noise of 
the approaching army which is to destroy the oppressor who goes 
on robbing and spoiling others to the last moment.] 

Like the roar of the whirlwind 

That sweeps through the southland, 

It comes from the desert, 

That land of dread. 

A vision full stern 

Hath been told unto me: 

The robber still robbeth, 

12 See Duhm, The Twelve Prophets, and Kent, Student's Old Testament, for 
rendering and arrangement. Verses 4 and 5 are considered a later addition. 



214 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

The spoiler still spoileth. 
"Go up, O Elam; 

Media, lay siege: 

All the sighs of the crushed 
Have I brought to an end." 

[The poet is perfectly amazed at the picture he sees, the utter self- 
complacency and stupidity of the Babylonian royalty, sitting at their 
banquet tables carousing, while the enemy is swiftly marching to 
their very doors.] 

For this cause my loins 
Are filled with anguish ; 
With pangs am I seized 
Like a woman in travail. 

1 writhe with the message, 
The vision confounds me. 
My mind goes a-wandering, 
Horror appals me; 

The twilight I love 

Hath been turned into trembling. 

The tables are ready, 

The carpets are spread. 

They are eating and drinking. 

Arise, ye princes. 

Spread oil on the shields. 

For on this wise the Lord 
Hath spoken to me : 
"Go, station a watchman 
To tell what he sees. 
If he seeth a troop, 
Horsemen in pairs, 
A train of asses, 
A train of camels, 
Then let him give heed 
With most diligent heed." 
And the watchman cried, 
"On the watch-tower, O Lord, 
Do I stand all the day; 
At my post am I stationed 
The live-long night. 
Lo ! a troop I see coming, 
Of horsemen in pairs." 
And he uttered these words, 
"Fallen, fallen is Babylon: 
Down to the ground 
Fall her images shattered." 

[The poet turns to the people whom the Tyrant had so grievously 
oppressed.] 



DRAMATIC LITERATURE 215 

Ye my folk that were threshed 
Like the corn on the floor, 
I have told you my message 
From Israel's God, 
From Yahweh of Hosts.^^ 

With this should also be read the picture of the downfall 
of Babylon in Isaiah 47. 

Come down, and sit in the dust, 

Virgin daughter of Babylon ; 

Hear this now, Lady of pleasure, 

Who sittest so securely, 

And sayest in thy heart, 

"It is I, there is none beside me; 

1 shall never sit as a widow, 
Nor know the loss of children." 

These two things shall come upon thee. 
Full swift in a single day — 
The loss of thy husband and children 
Shall suddenly come upon thee, 
Despite thy many spells. 
Despite thine enchantments many, 
Despite thy trust in thy wickedness. 
And thy fancy that no one can see thee. 

Read also that vivid heralding of one who shall deliver 
Zion from her enemies, in Isaiah 63. The figure used is 
drawn from the custom of treading out the grapes. 



(Cry) 



Who is this that cometh all red. 

With garments more brilliant than those of a vintager? 

So glorious in his apparel, 

Marching in fulness of strength ? 



(Answer) 



It is I, that have promised deliverance, 
I that am mighty to save. 

(Cry) 

Why is thy raiment so red. 

And thy garments like his that doth tread in the wine-press? 

13 McFadyen's translation. For date of writing and authorship see the 
commentaries or Creelman's Introduction to the Old Testament. 



216 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

(Answer) 

I have trodden the wine-trough alone, 
Of the nations was no man with Me; 
So I trod them in Mine anger. 
And trampled them down in My fray; 
Their life-blood besprinkled Mv garments. 
And all Mine apparel I stained. 

In contrast with these spirited appeals for vengeance should 
be read such passages of mercy as Isaiah 55 where the 
call of a water carrier through the streets is imitated. 

Ho ! aH that are thirsty, come ye to the waters, 
And ye that have no money, come ; 
Buy ye and eat without money, 
Boy wine and milk without price.^* 

And the call of Jesus in Matthew 11. 

Come unto Me, 

All ye that labor and are hea\y laden, 

-\nd I will give you rest. 

Take my yoke upon you, 

And learn of me; 

For I am meek and lowly in heart: 

And ye shall find rest unto your souls. 

For my yoke is easy, 

And my burden is light. 



BOOKS TO CONSULT 

on 

Dramatic Literature in the Bible 

DuHX, Berxh-ase — The Twehe Prophets. 

GoBBOK, A. K — Poets cf the Old Testament. 

International Critical Commentarv- — Isaiah, Ezekiel, Revelation. 

McFadyen, Edgab — Isaiah in Modern Speech. 

MouLTON, RiCHAiiD — Literary Study of the Bible. 

Studenfs Old Testament. 

1.4Tliese renderings cf Isaiah are McFadyen's. So dramatic are all the 
propiietic books that several of them Lave been arranged as plays, which can 
be given on the stage Tcxy effectively. See i-lesjiicr Yvood WTiitman's, Dramas 
0f Jsmimk, Jerewnmh and Amos. 



Chapter VII 
WISDOM LITERATURE 

There is a whole group of Bibhcal writings classed under 
the head of "Wisdom Literature" because they came from 
the hands of "the wise men," a school of teachers the near- 
est to philosophers which we have in the Old Testament. 
These "wise men" were a comparatively late product after 
the Hebrews had come into contact with the thought of 
other races in a verv- intimate way, during the Captivity and 
through the Dispersion which scattered them about in all 
the neighboring countries. The effect of their experiences 
at home and abroad was threefold; it made many of them 
anxious to imitate the customs and enjoy the luxuries of 
foreign lands; it made the reactionaries all the more in- 
sistent that a Jew should be a Jew, loyal to his own tradi- 
tions and beliefs ; and it made the deeply thoughtful ponder 
upon the reasons for their troubles and their fate, and even 
question whether the traditional answers to some of life's 
problems were the true answers. With the deeply religious 
such questioning resulted in verj- profound searchings for 
God and final faith in Him. With the more superficial time- 
servers it produced a doctrine of "the happy mean," an 
avoidance of extremes as unwise if one wished to get along 
well in this world; or even a cynical view, "vanity of vani- 
ties, saith the preacher, all is vanitv- !" 

There are two entire books, Job and Ecclesiastes, which 
belong to "Wisdom Literature," besides many of the Prov- 
erbs, maxims of worldly wisdom by shrewd observers of 
human nature. There are two books in the Apocrj^pha 
which also come under this class, Ecclesiasticus and The 
Wisdom of Solomon. 

217 



218 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 



THE BOOK OF JOB 

The book of Job is without any question the greatest 
production of this period. Some would call it the great- 
est piece of literature in the Bible, and rank it with the best 
of the world classics. The reason for this is twofold; its 
profound thought and its elevated style. Some of the pas- 
sages rise to the heights of the very finest poetry, and its 
dramatic setting is skillfully arranged. It is, indeed, the 
writing nearest to a drama which the Bible contains; not 
a real drama according to our occidental standards pat- 
terned very largely on the Greek definition of a drama ; not 
a play, but a series of expressive monologues against a 
dramatic background. The note it strikes is that of the 
universal, age-long problem, the meaning of suffering. It 
is introduced in the prose prologue by the subordinate theme, 
Is there such a thing as disinterested love ? ''Doth Job fear 
God for naught?" asks the Adversary as he appears in the 
court of heaven before Yahweh. He said No : God said 
Yes: the interest to the reader is to see who comes out 
ahead in the answer. In the tragic trials Job is made to 
pass through, his answer of loyalty to the highest revelation 
God can make to him proves that God is right; men do 
love Him for His own sake and not simply for the things 
He gives them. Job himself has grown marvelously in his 
own soul in his attempts to be loyal to his highest thought, 
his best self ; not all the arguments of his four so-called 
friends, representing the orthodox and the dogmatic, the old 
and the young, the fossilized and the callow, can swerve 
him from such integrity. The final passages of the poem 
are especially lofty where God speaks to him out of the 
storm and he humbly says, "I had heard of Thee by hear- 
say, but now mine eye seeth Thee." While the main prob- 
lem of the book, why must there be suffering, remains un- 
answered, the shallow reasons oflFered by the traditionally 
orthodox, who think all suffering is sent as punishment for 
some evil deed, are vigorously refuted, and the sympathizer 



WISDOM LITERATURE 219 

with Job is left with him on a mountain top, the air cleared 
after the storm and with an unshakeable faith in a God 
who understands even if we do not. 

In estimating the value of this wonderful book it must 
be remembered that the questions of the meaning of suffer- 
ing and of disinterested love are ever-recurring; they are 
the vital problems which afford the interest in every home 
that is started, in every friendship pledged, in every public 
position accepted, in every national relationship; in 
literature they lie at the heart of every good novel or play, 
and furnish the fascination for every good history or biog- 
raphy. They are even the persistent problems in the study 
of nature and man's environment, whether it is the freezing 
cold, or the withering heat, or ''the survival of the fittest" 
in the economic world, which absorbs him. *'Woe is me, 
that I was born in such a day!" is the constant complaint. 
It is because the author of this book struck such a note of 
universal, perpetual, and vital interest, and represented the 
struggle of the human soul coming out of the testing with 
integrity saved, a whole soul, not a compromised one, that 
this is a world classic and will ever be so regarded. 

From the standpoint of literary form there has been much 
discussion, especially of late. Among the Jews the book of 
Job seems originally to have been considered historical, and 
also by Christian writers up to the time of the Reforma- 
tion. Luther broke loose from that idea. He thought it 
started with a germ of history which was worked over and 
enlarged upon by some ^'ingenious, pious and learned man." 
No scholar now takes it literally. The scenes in the heav- 
enly court could only be imaginary and symbolical. The ex- 
tremity of the calamities, the numbers three and seven used 
in a formal fashion, the carefully thought-out debate, all in- 
dicate a literary design which is not based on strict history. 
Some scholars think that the prose prelude and postlude, or 
framework for the poetical speeches, was written after the 
exile about the time of Malachi, when people were very 
much depressed and saw little use in serving Yahweh, when 
what worship they gave was more or less perfunctory. The 



220 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

question whether man served God for naught would be 
especially pertinent then. The body of the book, or the 
poetical portion, was, according to these scholars, introduced 
later. Job is no longer patient under suffering; he ex- 
presses himself most vigorously against its injustice; the 
pious orthodox point of view of his so-called friends irri- 
tates him greatly; he must think down deeper than that to 
find a reason for faith in Yahweh, a faith that in his earnest- 
ness he finds, meeting God himself in such a way that he 
cannot doubt Him. Many scholars think this illustrates 
the progress of thought of the nation in pondering upon 
their bitter experience of Captivity; others believe it to 
have sprung originally from some individual's personal ex- 
perience, although it may have been used afterwards to 
apply to the whole nation. Again, some feel that the whole 
book is a unit and say that without an introduction and 
conclusion such as the prologue and epilogue supply, the 
book would be quite incomplete, whereas as it now stands 
it is an artistic whole. 

A very few have attempted to show that it is an imita- 
tion of a Greek tragedy. It was doubtless written in the 
Persian or the Greek period and is the nearest to a Greek 
drama which the Hebrew literature contains. It is known 
that in Hellenistic circles such as the city of Alexandria con- 
tained, with the plays of Euripides were presented also 
others written after the Greek manner to represent epochs 
in Hebrew history. Theodore of Mopsuestia who lived in 
Cilicia in the early part of the fifth century A.D. thought 
the book was fiction and written by some one familiar with 
Greek literature. A student of the present day thinks he 
finds in the book the characteristic marks of a Greek play, 
namely, prologue, epilogue, and dialogue in the body of the 
argument, and even an epiphany to end the argument; he 
points out that the verses in different meter, which mark 
the divisions of the dialogue and are usually thought to be 
interpolations, are to his mind the places where the choruses 
appear as in the Greek form.^ But while one scholar says, 

1 See Horace Kallen, The Book of Job as a Greek Tragedy. 



WISDOM LITERATURE 221 

"There is only one great work in the world's literature that 
really resembles Job and that is Prometheus Bound by 
^schylus; these two works are so much alike that the 
thought of dependence suggests itself," and another that 
this Greek idea "is a hypothesis which invites serious con- 
sideration from Biblical scholars and students of literature," 
it is not a theory which is generally accepted. The book 
has no plot with entanglement, development, and final solu- 
tion, and the happy outcome is not proper to a real tragedy. 
Doctor Davidson thinks that "any idea of representing his 
work on a stage never crossed the author's mind" and 
Doctor Cheyne that "a Hebrew drama is inconceivable." 
The attempts to dramatize it in English, such as Stuart 
Walker's recent presentation, have caused dramatic critics 
to pronounce it "a dramatic rendering" rather than a play. 

We may, then, consider the book of Job a series of three 
cycles of dramatic poetic speeches in a prose framework. 
Almost all scholars think there are interpolations in these 
speeches and that they are not arranged entirely in the 
proper order of verses. These interpolations occur espe- 
cially in the last cycle, which does not proceed smoothly 
and seems in some places even unnatural. This is particu- 
larly true of Elihu's remarks, which are also inferior in 
style to the rest. The late Doctor Jastrow in his recent 
treatise. The Book of Job, considered it to be very far 
from a unity. He considered the framework based upon an 
early Babylonian folk-tale, the poetical section made up of 
three distinct strata, the later ones added to tone down Job's 
protests against the orthodox point of view, and the nature 
poems independent compositions, the final editor having 
welded all these elements together to make an apparent 
unity. 

There has been much discussion as to the literary term 
that should be applied to this book. If it is not a drama 
is it an epic? So Professor Genung would call it, only not 
an epic of the usual sort, but an "Epic of the Inner Life." 
He called it the story of "the heroic spiritual achievements 
of Job ... as if the patriarch's words were veritable deeds 



222 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

of valor and victory." He acknowledged that it has traits of 
both literary types, and that the term applied depends upon 
whether one looks at the outer form or the inner substance 
of thought. Perhaps the best conclusion we can reach is 
that "we cannot force this splendid fruit of Hebrew wisdom 
into a Greek scheme, and it is really futile to discuss whether 
it is a drama or an epic. It is itself." ^ "It stands absolutely 
alone not only in the literature of Israel but in the literature 
of the world." ^ 

Notwithstanding all these elaborate discussions of the true 
literary make-up of this wonderful book and also the fact 
that we have it in translation and "none of the English ver- 
sions is even remotely adequate," yet the ordinary English 
reader can, with a little help, get the drift of its meaning 
and catch the thrill of the deep dramatic note that is struck 
and the lofty conclusion that is reached ; he can respond to 
the grandeur of the style, the exquisite descriptions of na- 
ture and the realistic expressions of human feeling, even in 
our imperfect English translations. If certain passages are 
marked in the Bible the whole story can be read in an 
hour, and the drift of the argument perceived. An analysis 
for use in marking follows : * 

Analysis of Job 

Prose Prologue — Chs. 1 & 2. Scenes — at the court of heaven and 
on earth. Chief actor, Satan, or The Adversary, or The Inspector, 
"a mocking, detracting, reckless, impudent being, observing and 
criticizing all things, yet sympathizing with none. . . . his only oc- 
cupation being apparently to appease the restlessness of an active 
mind, as well as he can, by incessantly roaming over the earth and 
observing its affairs." 

The Poem 
Dramatis Personce 

Job — the Sufferer. 

Eliphaz — ^the elderly man, very devout, representative of "the wise." 

Bildad — middle-aged, strictly orthodox. 

Zophar — a narrow-minded, hot-headed, insistent dogmatist. 

2 New Century Bible. 

3 Hastings Bible Dictionary. 

4 In marking these passages it is suggested that the little volume in Moul- 
ton's Modern Reader's Bible will be found convenient and useful. The stu- 
dent is advised to consult the authors referred to in the list of "Books to 
Consult." 



WISDOM LITERATURE 223 

Elihu — ^the young man who proposes the solution that the 
punishment is because Job is not submissive, rather 
than actually wicked ; he thinks he has something new 
to say but really adds nothing to the arguraer^ 

Scene — The Ash-heap outside the city wall. 

Cycles of Argument by the Three Friends and Job 

(1) Chs. 4-14 

(2) Chs. 15-21 

(3) Chs. 22-27 

The Remainder of the Poem 

(4) Ch. 28. A poem exalting Wisdom. 

(5) Chs. 29-31. A soliloquy of Job. 

(6) Chs. 32-37. Elihu's Speeches. 

(7) Chs. 38-41. God's speaks in the Whirlwind. The Nature 

Poems. 
Prose Epilogue — Ch. 42 : 7-17. 

Job's final blessing and prosperity on earth. 

Passages to mark for an hour's dramatic reading. 

Prologue. 

1:1-2:13 
Poem 
Job, (an honest and sincere man, having lived conscientiously, the 
best he knew how, but now under affliction working out a 
larger philosophy and a deeper life with God.) 
Z:Z, 20-22 The great question-mark concerning human misery. 

The "Friends" Argument with him begins. 

(The "Friends" have their philosophy of life all settled and are 
shocked at Job's unorthodox attitude.) 

First Cycle 

Eliphaz — (the gray-bearded ancient, beginning very blandly in a 

tone of fatherly solicitude.) 4:1-5, 7-9, 12; 5:8, 17, 18. 
Job— 6: 1-4, 8-14, 25, 27, 29; 7: 11, 13. 

(The last verses show that Job is not yet willing to accept injus- 
tice and thinks the lack of sympathy in his friends is one more 
affliction.) 
Bildad — (the orthodox; he suggests that the reason for Job's sad 

plight must be because he has sinned.) 8:6, 20. 
Job — (accepting in a measure the orthodox position but very much 
puzzled about it.) 9:2-4, 21, 24, 30, ZZ. (Seems conscious 
that man's most perfect attempts can never be absolutely holy 
before God. He feels caught in a mesh.) 
10: 1 ("Job's everlasting No." He finds relief in speaking.) 
10:5-15 (He feels almost hard towards God. God, he thinks, 
cannot understand the injustice of man's situation. He 
shows up the fallacy of the orthodox doctrine.) 
10:20-22 (After all there is no satisfaction.) 



A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

Zophar — (The narrow, intense dogmatist, with self-righteous su- 
periority, and no courtesy. This whole chapter is a pious 
lecture.) 
11:2-4, 6, 12 

Job (sarcastically replies) 12:2, 7-10 (Their wisdom is not so great 
as they think.) 13:2-5, 7, 10, 12-15, 18, 25 
14: 1 (He again returns to the unanswerable question.) 
14:14 (A more profound question.) 
14:21 (Life is a strange puzzle.) 

Second Cycle 

(The "friends" are shocked at the way Job receives their gentle 
remonstrances; so they bear down harder. Truth must be spoken 
at any cost to sympathy ; Job is not only a heretic but a blaspheming 
one.) 
Eliphas — 15:2-4, 11 (This reproach is one which Job resents.) 

15: 17, 24-28 (Notice the insinuations as to the kind of sin of 

which Job may have been guilty.) 
15 : 34 (He bears on worse and worse.) 
Job — (very much irritated.) 
16:2-6 

16: 12 (a pathetic cry) 

16: 17, 19 (But he rises to ultimate confidence in God, although 
his friends have failed him. He seems to be working out 
a clearer idea of God.) 
17:6-10, 13-16 (The questioning again.) 
Bildad— IS : 5-14 

Job — (exasperated, tells them they are going too far.) 
19:2-4 

19:9, 13, 18-22 (A bitter cry.) 

19:23-27 (His conviction of God is getting more definite. 
Verse 25 has always been taken as the supreme utterance 
of Job.) 
Zophar — (He does not like Job's insinuation that the "friends" may 
be sinners too.) 20:2, 5, 6, 7, 15, 18, 29 (More out-and-out 
accusations.) 
Job--2l:3, 4, 7-9, 17, 23-26, 27, 28, 34 (The troublesome question 
again.) 

Third Cycle 

Eliphaz — (Very unjustly severe in his accusations.) 22:3, 5-9, ?Z, 

29. 
Job— 23 : 2-10 

24:1 (The old question again.) 

24:2-4, 9, 13, 22 (He acknowledges that there are grafters 
and contemptible cheats and sinners such as the "friends" 
have accused him of being.) 
Bildad— 25 : 4-6, 26:5-14 (The beginning of the argument from 
Nature.) 



WISDOM LITERATURE 225 

Job— 26:2 (sarcastically) 

27 : 2-6 (He will not consent to seem what he is not.) 
Zophar — ^27:11, 14-23 (The same old philosophy.) 

28:12-28 (Continued argument from Nature. This is deeper 
reasoning and in a more humble tone.) 

Job's Soliloquy 

Job— 29:2-30:1 

30:9-11, 16, 29-31 (A very pathetic wail. He had been evi- 
dently a very important man in the city. It seems to Job 
as if God must be cruel if He is the cause of such 
changes.) 
Job's last attempt at vindication. — 31 : 5-8, 16, 17, 19-22, 24, 25, 29, 31, 
32, 35, 38-40 

Elihu's Speeches 

Elihu — (the young man, with a more lenient solution to the prob- 
lem.) 
[Some think this is an interpolation by a later editor who wanted 
to soften the speeches and offer a more satisfactory answer to the 
question. Elihu is very wordy but really adds little.] 

32:6-21; 33:6, 7, 8, 12, 13 (Man must learn that there are 
mysteries.) 

33:14-16 (First way of learning.) 

33:19 (Second way of learning.) 

33 : 29-33 

34: 7-9," 18,5 19, 36 (Job has sinned as much as any one.) 

36:2, 3, 5-7a, 9-12, 17, 18 

36:22, 23, 26-33 (A storm begins to appear.) 

37 : 1-5, 14 (The storm comes nearer.) 

37:22, 23 (A wonderful light appears with the storm.) 

God Speaks 

A Voice out of the Storm. 

(This is one of the finest passages in all literature.) 

38:2-11, 16-36; 39:19,26, 27; 40:2 
Job — (who has begun to learn his lesson.) 40:4-5 
The Votce-A0:7, 8, 10-14 

(Most scholars think the animal descriptions are interpolations of 
a later date.) 
Job — (humbly) 

42:2 
The Voice — 42 : 3a 
Job— 42: 3h 
The Voice — 42 : 4 
Job— 42:5 

Prose Epilogue— 42 : 7-17 

5 See margin of Revised Version, 



226 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

Suggested Study 

Note the skepticism of a certain type of man as to any 
ones serving God for naught. See how this is expressed by 
the "Adversary"; by the "Friends." Point out the many 
contrasts in both the prologue and the poem. 

E.g., heaven and earth ; prosperity and utter ruin ; happi- 
ness and wretchedness; God's supremacy and man's weak- 
ness ; the shallow orthodoxy of the friends and the profound 
religious earnestness of Job ; the rebellion and skepticism of 
the beginning of the book and the faith and rest in God (al- 
though suffering is still a mystery) at the close; the God 
Job turns from as unjust and cruel and not to be under- 
stood, and the God he turns to and believes in as just and 
good. 

Compare Job's rebellion with Carlyle's "Everlasting No," 
and his self-assertion with Henley's poem in which he as- 
serts "I Am the Captain of my Soul." 

Look for — 

Metaphors. ("This poet is a master of metaphors, taken 
from many spheres of life.") 

Exquisite descriptions of nature, the storm, the animal 
pictures. ("They are like instantaneous photographs.") 

The poet's power of irony; of pathos, (It is "deeply 
moving.") 

The use of parallelism. 

Make a character study of Job. Contrast the character 
drawing of his picture with that of his friends, who "have 
no clearly marked individuality." Compare the Book of Job 
with yEschylus' Prometheus Bound, with Goethe's Faust, 
with Mark Twain's The Mysterious Stranger. 

ESTIMATES OF THIS BOOK 

"In the middle of our Bible, massive and majestic, stands 
a monumental work of the world's literature, before which 
the sincere scholar can only stand with the awe of one who 
takes his shoes from his feet." Genung, 



WISDOM LITERATURE 227 

"Such living likenesses were never since drawn. There 
is nothing written, I think, in the Bible or out of it, of equal 
literary merit." Carlisle. 

"The book is studded with exquisite figures, and the 
speech of Jehovah is, for sustained dignity and beauty, un- 
surpassed in the world's literature. It is the product of the 
highest genius. . . . The book of Job is one of the world's 
masterpieces. It stands beside the greatest of the works of 
yEschylus, Sophocles, or Euripides, or Dante's Divina 
Commedia, or Goethe's Faust as an immortal portrayal of 
the struggles of the soul." George Barton. 

"Here the poetical genius of Israel reaches its noblest 
height. In range of imagination, and sustained splendor 
of diction, the book not merely stands alone in the Old 
Testament but takes a foremost place also among the mas- 
terpieces of the world's literature. Tennyson but expresses 
the common feeling of literary critics when he pronounces 
it *the greatest poem whether of ancient or of modern 
times.' " A. R. Gordon. 

"The profound philosophy and noble poetry of the author, 
and his knowledge of the deep problems of human life, make 
the Book of Job, both in its conception as a work of literary 
art, and in its subject matter, the greatest and the most dar- 
ing that has come to us from the remote past. No other 
portion of the Old Testament, except the latter part of 
Isaiah is comparable to Job as a lengthy treatment of a single 
subject." /. H. Penniman. 

"It is not surprising, that by the verdict of poets, thinkers 
and critics of all lands and of every age, the Book of Job 
has been accorded a place quite by itself. Even without 
penetrating to its deeper meaning, the mere beauty of its 
diction and the dignity of its stanzas suffice to make a 
universal appeal. Job belongs to those choice productions — 
few in number — that take their place outside of the environ- 
ment in which they arise and become the possession of 
humanity at large. Like the dramas of Euripides and of 
^Eschylus and the poems of Horace, the immortal produc- 
tions of Dante and Milton, like Shakespeare's Hamlet and 



228 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

Goethe's Faust, the Book of Job belongs to all ages. As 
one of the earliest of attempts to deal with the most per- 
plexing of religious problems, it has exercised a profound 
influence on the literature of Western nations. One can 
trace that influence in all the great poems and dramas of 
the Western world that deal with the tragedy of human 
suffering and of human wrongs, whether we turn to Dante's 
Divina Commedia or to Milton's Paradise Lost and Re- 
gained, to Shakespeare's Hamlet or to Goethe's Faust, The 
philosophy of Job has colored the thought of the greatest 
thinkers from Spinoza and the English Deists down to 
Schopenhauer and Nietzche. Optimists and pessimists alike 
have made their appeal to Job and have found in the book 
a confirmation of their views or a support for their outlook 
on life. Above all it has been a source of consolation to 
troubled souls, bowed down by grief and sorrow." Morris 
Jastrow. 

THE WORDS OF KOHELETH 

One of the most interesting products of the period of 
the worldly-wise man is the book called in our Bibles by 
the name of Ecclesiastes. That word is the attempt to 
translate into Greek the Hebrew word Koheleth, The de- 
rivation of Koheleth is rather hard to discover; it appar- 
ently comes from a stem meaning "to gather." This word 
would then mean "the one who gathers people together" 
or calls an assembly. In Greek an assembly was an ecclesia, 
but to us things ecclesiastic are very churchly and ortho- 
dox, and this book is the farthest from being either. Our 
ordinary versions translate the word also as "the preacher." 
But Koheleth was no preacher in the usual acceptation of 
the term, a man using all his persuasive powers to win others 
to a good and great cause. This man, whoever he was, was 
a shrewd observer of human life and its ups and downs, its 
allurements and temporal rewards, its hollowness and un- 
satisfactoriness, above all its apparent injustices and its ever 
repeated experiences. It seemed to him man gets nowhere 



WISDOM LITERATURE 229 

in trying to solve the whys and wherefores of his puzzling 
existence, that the best thing for him to do is to try to avoid 
setting his heart upon anything too seriously, but to go 
through life getting as much pleasure as possible day by 
day in obeying "the golden mean." He has great insight 
into the sorrows and disappointments of this mortal span; 
he has no insight whatever into the "other world," the 
spiritual sphere beyond this material universe, nor can he 
penetrate into it even so far as to offer spiritual rewards 
and a divine cause to which to devote oneself. He is the 
direct contrast to a prophetic preacher who was a mystic 
seer and a persuasive orator winning men to a lofty end for 
which to work. Koheleth was a cynic; he has been called 
"a gentle cynic," for he did not damn all life with his bitter- 
ness ; he was just wisely skeptical, shrewdly observant, self- 
ishly prudent. He did not see the truth in the old orthodox 
faith nor the use in spending oneself for nothing, only to be 
doomed to disappointment. Some have even thought him 
the forerunner of the scientific man in his honesty in facing 
facts and his reluctance to believe where he could not see. 
Certainly his frankness appeals to us, since it is coupled 
with very keen portrayals of what actually happens. It is 
one of the universally interesting books, because it uncovers 
the deep universal experiences, and because it sanctions 
frank expression, not a suppression as if it were wrong to 
speak thus of life. If it does not go far enough to satisfy, 
it at least arouses our sympathetic assent so far as it goes. 
It has been compared to Omar Khayyam as a classic in 
worldly wisdom. 

The style of the book has puzzled scholars, for it seems 
to be uneven and inconsistent in its thought. For this reason 
some have concluded that later editors, shocked at the un- 
orthodox theology of the writer, put in sentences here and 
there to tone down Koheleth's cynicism and make it more 
in accord with accepted beliefs, throwing in also unrelated 
proverbs and practical maxims which would make the book 
more useful. Others contend that there is a unity through- 
out and that the deepest significance of the treatise is not 



230 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

perceived without the passages that seem to express a dif- 
ferent mood than the prevaiHng one of skepticism concern- 
ing the values of life, because true psychology makes a 
place for different viewpoints in the same temperament. 
For the former idea the student is referred especially to 
Doctor Jastrow's Gentle Cyme; for the latter to Doctor 
Genung's Words of Kohelefh. Each of these books presents 
with the interpretation a fresh translation and commentary. 
The association of Koheleth with Solomon is due to the 
representation of a king like Solomon as the writer, a per- 
sonification quite in line with the customs of writers in the 
period of the Wisdom School. The style and the tone 
of the book show plainly that it must have been written 
late, when the experiences of the Jews in the world of men 
had brought their thinking to a depressing realism, a state 
of sophistication and pessimism unknown in earlier periods. 
The style is prose for the most part with short poetical sec- 
tions here and there. 

Extracts from the Words of Koheleth.® 

(1:3-9) 

What profit hath man of all his labor 

Wherein he laboreth under the sun? 

One generation goeth 

And another generation cometh; 

But the earth abideth forever. 

The sun also ariseth, 

And the sun goeth down, 

And hasteth to its place where it ariseth. 

The wind goeth toward the south, 

And turneth about unto the north; 

It turneth about continually in its course, 

And the wind returneth again to its circuits. 

All the rivers run into the sea, 

Yet the sea is not full; 

Unto the place whither the rivers go, 

Thither they go again. 

All things are full of weariness; 

Man cannot utter it: 

The eye is not satisfied with seeing. 

Nor the ear filled with hearing. 

That which hath been is that which shall be; 

6 This translation is that of the Revised Version arranged to show poetical 
and prose sections. It would be well to compare it with Dr. Jastrow s very 
suggestive translation in A Gentle Cynic. 



WISDOM LITERATURE 231 

And that which hath been done is that which shall be done : 
And there is no new thing under the sun. 

(1: 12-14; 2:1) I the Preacher was King over Israel in Jerusa- 
lem. And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom 
concerning all that is done under heaven : it is a sore travail that 
God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith. I 
have seen all the works that are done under the sun, and behold 
all is vanity and a striving after wind. ... I said in my heart, Come 
now, I will prove thee with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure: and, 
behold, this also was vanity. 

(3 : 10-13) I have seen the travail which God hath given to the 
sons of men to be exercised therewith. He hath made everything 
beautiful in its time: also he hath set eternity in their heart, yet so 
that man cannot find out the work that God hath done from the 
beginning even to the end. I know that there is nothing better for 
them, than to rejoice, and to do good so long as they live. And 
also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy good in all his 
labor, is the gift of God. 

(4 : 1, 4-6) Then I returned and saw all the oppressions that are 
done under the sun : and, behold, the tears of such as were op- 
pressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their op- 
pressors there was power; but they had no comforter. . . . Then I 
saw all labor and every skillful work, that for this a man is envied 
of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind. 
Better is a handful, with quietness, than two handfuls with labor 
and striving after wind. 

(5: 10) He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; 
Nor he that loveth abundance, with increase : 
This also is vanity. 

(5 : 18-20) Behold, that which I have seen to be good and to be 
comely is for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy good in all his 
labor, wherein he laboreth under the sun, all the days of his life 
which God hath given him : for this is his portion. Every man also 
to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him 
power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his 
labor — this is the gift of God. For he shall not much remember 
the days of his Hf e ; because God answereth him in the joy of his 
heart. 

(7: 15-18) All this have I seen in my days of vanity: there is a 
righteous man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a 
wicked man that prolongeth his life in his evil-doing. Be not 
righteous overmuch; neither make thyself overwise; why shouldest 
thou destroy thyself? Be not overmuch wicked, neither be thou 
foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time? It is good that 



232 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

thou shouldest take hold of this; yea, also from that withdraw not 
thy hand : for he that f eareth God shall come forth from them all, 

(8: 10, 14, 15) So I saw the wicked buried, and they came to the 
grave; and they that had done right went away from the holy place, 
and were forgotten in the city : this also is vanity. There is a vanity 
which is done upon the earth, that there are righteous men unto 
whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, 
there are wicked men to whom it happeneth according to the work 
of the righteous : I said that this also is vanity. Then I commended 
mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to 
eat, and to drink, and to be joyful: for that shall abide with him in 
his labor all the days of his life which God hath given him under 
the sun. 

(9:11) 
I returned, and saw under the sun that 
The race is not to the swift, 
Nor the battle to the strong, 

Neither yet bread to the wise, ^ ^ 

Nof yet riches to men of understanding, 
Nor yet favor to men of skill ; 
But time and chance happeneth to them all. 

• « • m 

(11 : 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8) 
Cast thy bread upon the waters; 
For thou shalt find it after many days. 
Give a portion to seven, yea, even to eight : 
For thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth. 
As thou knowest not what is the way of the wind, 
Nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child ; 
Even so thou knowest not the work of God who doeth all. 
In the morning sow thy seed. 
And in the evening withhold not thy hand; 

por thou knowest not which shall prosper, whether this or that, 
Or whether they both shall be alike good. 
Truly the light is sweet. 

And a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun. 
Yea, if a man live many years, 
Let him rejoice in them all. 

Suggested Study 

Read Omar Khayyam and compare with Genung's or 
Jastrow's translation of Ecclesiastes, having these three 
thoughts in mind, the worldly philosophy expressed, the 
truly ethical teachings, the manner and forcefulness of ex- 
pression. 



WISDOM LITERATURE 233 



ESTIMATES OF THE BOOK 

"The world ever since has been at loss whether with the 
theologians to call Koheleth's book the most pathetic in 
scripture, or with the hardy worldlings to call it the brav- 
est and cheeriest." Franklin Genung. 

"Koheleth is not irreligious, not gloomy, not skeptical, not 
pessimistic, if by pessimism one means a point of view which 
sees no value in life. On the contrary, it may be called glori- 
ously optimistic. Koheleth sees all the inequalities of life, 
all its mysteries and disillusions, the hoUowness of the things 
which men seek most eagerly, the uselessness of any hope of 
life after death, and yet loses neither his confidence in God 
nor his sense of the real value of life. Modern life can add 
to it the hope of the future life, the value of social service 
and the warmth of trust in a loving Father, as well as in 
the Eternal Wisdom; but Koheleth's fundamental concep- 
tion of the value of life as lying in the worth of the simple 
things of daily living still stands." Irving F, Wood. 

"The book is not only intensely human, it is also remark- 
ably modern in its spirit. Koheleth belongs to the small 
coterie of books that do not grow old. . . . 

Koheleth may have been a man of many moods. In one 
of his moods he may have been a pessimist, perhaps under 
the influence of a spell of indigestion, in another he may 
have been optimistically inclined, perhaps because of some 
pleasant experience. There are other instances of writers 
who now appear to be skeptics, while at another time what 
they write bears the earmarks of a reverent believer. Con- 
sistency is a rare virtue — even among modern thinkers. It 
is not easy to say exactly what an elusive writer like Anatole 
France believes or does not believe. Renan is reported to 
have said of himself that he did not feel entirely happy 
unless he contradicted himself twice a day. Who is so 
chameleon-like in his thought as Bernard Shaw? Reading 
him is like playing a game of now you see it, now you don't. 
And Bernard Shaw is a jewel of consistency compared to 



234 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

Gilbert Chesterton, whose metier is to be paradoxical, and 
of whom the only thing certain is that he is uncertain. May 
not Koheleth have been of this type ? . . . 

Koheleth may talk about hating life. He may praise the 
dead as better off than those who are alive and add 'better 
than both is the one who has not yet been, who has not seen 
the evil happenings under the sun,' but he does not really 
think this. Pessimists talk that way, but there are few 
instances of pessimists deliberately shuffling off the mortal 
coil against which they rail. They get rid of any suicidal 
tendencies by writing long disquisitions on the uselessness 
of life. Schopenhauer, the most eminent of modern pessi- 
mists, is a notable example of the care which pessimists take 
to preserve their health. In reality, the pessimist believes 
with Koheleth 'Light is sweet and it is pleasant for the 
eyes to see the sun.' . . . 

Nature has only one film — a long and varied one, which it 
reels off and then reels off again without cessation. Enjoy 
the film, he says, but don't attempt to interfere with it — 
or you will spoil the show." Morris Jastrow. 

GROUPS OF PROVERBS 

The proverb, its relation to the riddle or conundrum and 
its poetical structure has already been mentioned. In the 
period of the "wise men" maxims and sententious sayings 
were a favorite mode of expression. The natural love of 
the Bedouin for proverbs and his brilliancy in constructing 
them showed itself in the more artificial stages of Hebrew 
literature in groups of short, pithy, balanced sayings col- 
lected about a common theme such as Fools or Sluggards or 
Wisdom. The choice of the theme reveals the spirit of the 
age ; the same shrewd worldly wisdom is to be observed as 
in the book of Koheleth. Proverbs have been called the 
''crystallizations of the practical wisdom of peoples." A 
proverb is often a condensed parable and a group of prov- 
erbs might easily be elaborated into an essay, but the proverb 
rather than the essay presents the manner of fixing great 



WISDOM LITERATURE 235 

truths In the mind that is more characteristic of the true 
Hebrew. In the New Testament, after the Hebrew language 
had given way to the Greek and the Jewish mind was think- 
ing as well as it could in Greek forms, we find essay develop- 
ing. But even there the true Hebrew reverts again and again 
to his native style of expressing truths in terse, cogent sen- 
tences and even grouping such sayings about one theme. It 
was much more natural to him to give short concrete illus- 
trations and to press his point home simply by showing vivid 
contrasts than to talk at large upon general principles. The 
book of Proverbs like other worldly wisdom was too shrewd 
to be very warm with generous passionate feeling. We can- 
not help noting at this point a difference between the Old 
Testament love of a proverb for its own sake and Jesus' use 
of this proverbial style in the New Testament; for Jesus 
was a prophet rather than a "wise man" and infused into 
his wisdom the prophetic fire. 

On Fools, Proverbs 26:3-12. 

On Sluggards, Proverbs 6:6-11; 24:30-34; 26:13-16. 

On Wisdom, Proverbs 8 and 9 : 1-12. 

On Happiness, Matthew 5 : 1-12. 

It is well to compare the Revised Version with Dr. Mof- 
fatt's translation. 

Blessed are those who feel poor in spirit! 

the Realm of heaven is theirs. 
Blessed are the mourners I 

they will be consoled. 
Blessed are the humble 1 

they will inherit the earth. 
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for goodness! 

they will be satisfied. 
Blessed are the merciful I 

they will find mercy. 
Blessed are the pure in heart 1 

they will see God. 
Blessed are the peacemakers ! 

they will be ranked sons of God. 



236 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of 
goodness I 

the Realm of heaven is theirs. 
Blessed are you when men denounce you and persecute you and 
utter all manner of evil against you for my sake ; rejoice and exult 
in it, for your reward is rich in heaven; that is how they perse- 
cuted the prophets before you. 

These beatitudes ^ have been called "the Magna Charta 
of the Kingdom." It is to be noted that when Jesus gave 
his great mission into the hands of his disciples he began 
to explain it by striking at the very heart of human desire, 
namely, happiness. There have been many elaborate systems 
of philosophy built up to try to show men how to attain 
happiness, Epicureanism, Stoicism, Hedonism, and all the 
modern modifications of these Greek philosophies ; indeed all 
religions are an effort to show how to attain the summiim 
honum or real happiness ; yet nowhere do we find so frank, 
concise, and plain rules for attaining the goal as here in 
Jesus' beatitudes. They have rightfully become a classic. 
We repeat them so often and so easily that perhaps we do 
not stop to analyze their depth of meaning, and to see how 
broad was Jesus' reach, for he talks of happiness on earth 
as well as in heaven and makes the happiness of heaven 
begin on earth. He makes very practical rules for getting 
on with people and points out the very pathway to the 
presence of God, which is the search of the spiritually- 
minded. Great Teacher that He was, the Master of that 
superb art. He puts in the present tense the first one of these 
beatitudes as if it were the foundation stone for all the 
rest and quite possible to realize right now. It might be 
paraphrased 

Happy are the teachable, 

For theirs is the mastery over life. 

Quite in contrast with Koheleth, He holds out a great aim 
in life, happiness which can be attained, a Kingdom which 
is to be worked for with such exultant hope that not even 
persecution can dry up the springs of joy. He at once rec- 

7 Notice that the Hebrew parallelism is beautifully illustrated. 



WISDOM LITERATURE 237 

ognizes that the most insistent hunger of human life and 
the most unquenchable thirst is the hunger and thirst for 
the deep satisfactions of right-ness, a harmony with the 
laws of God. These are no superficial worldly-wise max- 
ims ; they strike at the very heart of human need, of human 
desire, and of human hope. It has been said that man en- 
joys depicting Infernos rather than Utopias, or at least that 
his Infernos are more effectively done ; that Mephistopheles 
is the center of interest in Faust; that Shylock, Macbeth, 
lago are the favorite characters in Shakespeare ; that Para- 
dise Lost is far better known than Paradise Regained, and 
the Inferno better depicted than the Paradiso; that Dickens' 
ruffians, cheats, and misers are his most fascinating figures, 
his Pecksniffs, Quilps and Scrooges ; that Vergil's picture of 
the nether regions is far more of a classic than any de- 
scription of the home of the gods; in fact, that man's 
Utopias are insipid in contrast to his vigorous and fascinat- 
ing portrayals of the under side of things. If this is true 
of most literature it certainly is not so of Jesus' pictures. 
Possibly the key to the vividness and realism of the art is 
in the fact of where the artist is most at home. 

President King has thus contrasted "The World's Code" 
with this code of Jesus for finding happiness — 

Happy are the proud, for theirs is this world. 

Happy are the unscrupulous, for they shall need no comfort. 

Happy are those who claim ever)rthing, for they shall possess the 

earth. 
Happy are those who hold back from no si*", for they shall drain 

pleasure's cup. 
Happy are the tyrants, for they need no mercy. 
Happy are the impure, to whose lust no bound can be put, for they 

shall see many harlots. 
Happy are they who can stir anger unhindered, whose ambition is 

unchecked, for they shall be as gods. 
Happy are they who have never sacrificed, for theirs is all the 

world.s 

Suggested Study 
Compare the beatitudes in Matthew with those in Luke. 

8 H. C. King, The Ethics of Jesus. 



238 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

Tell whether the following proverbs are in the Old Testa- 
ment or the New. 

For lack of wood the fire goeth out; 

And where there is no whisperer, contention ceaseth. 

Hold fast that which is good; 
Abstain from every form of evil. 

He that giveth answer before he heareth, 
It is folly and shame unto him. 

Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue 
Keepeth his soul from troubles. 

Put away from thee a wayward mouth, 
And perverse lips put far from thee. 

Hatred stirreth up strifes ; 

But love covereth all transgressions. 

He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; 
And he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city. 

Keep thy tongue from evil, 
And thy lips from speaking guile. 
Depart from evil and do good; 
Seek peace and pursue it. 

Be not overcome of evil, 

But overcome evil with good. 

Judge not, that ye be not judged. 

For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: 

And with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you. 

He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker; 
But he that hath mercy on the needy honoreth Him. 

If thine enemy hunger, feed him: 

If he thirst, give him to drink: 

For in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 

If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; 
And if he be thirsty, give him water to drink. 

There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing; 
There is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great wealth. 
There is that scattereth, and increaseth yet more ; 
And there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth 
only to want. 



WISDOM LITERATURE 239 

To whomsoever much is given, 
Of him shall much be required. 

Give and it shall be given unto you; 

Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, 

Shall they give into your bosom. 

For with what measure ye mete 

It shall be measured to you again. 

Owe no man anything, save to love one another; 
For he that loveth his neighbor hath fulfilled the law. 

Love worketh no ill to his neighbor; 
Love therefore is the fulfilment of the law. 

Let us love one another. 
For love is of God. 

Greater love hath no maii than this. 

That a man lay down his life for his friends. 



Take such a proverb as one of the following and work it 
out into a parable: 

The drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; 
And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags. 

Each tree is known by its own fruit, 
For of thorns men do not gather figs, 
Nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. 

Salt is good: 

But if the salt have lost its saltness. 

Wherewith will ye season it? 

Can the blind guide the blind? 
Shall they not both fall into the pit? 

Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein; 

And whoso rolleth a stone, it shall return upon him. 

Man is born unto trouble. 
As the sparks fly upward. 

As in water face answereth to face, 
So the heart of man to man. 

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep^s clothing^ 
But inwardly are ravening wolves. 



240 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

BOOKS TO CONSULT 

on 

Wisdom Literature 

Barton, George, The Bible for Home and School, Job. 
Fowler, H. T., A History of the Literature of Ancient Israel. 
Genung, Franklin, A Guide to the Biblical Literature. 

The Epic of the Inner Life. 

The Words of Koheleth. 
Hastings' Bible Dictionary. 
International Critical Commentary, Proverbs. 
Jastrow, Morris, The Book of lob. 

A Gentle Cynic. 
Kallen, Horace, The Book of Job as a Greek Tragedy. 
MouLTON, Richard, Modern Reader's Bible. 
Penniman, J. H., A Book about the English Bible. 
Rice, J. A., The Old Testament in the Light of To-day. 
The New Century Bible. 



Chapter VIII 
ORATORY 

Literature has two main objects, self-expression and do- 
ing something with other people. The pleasure which ac- 
companies either process is an accompaniment, not an end 
in the truest sense; the moment that becomes the end the 
aims of literature are subverted and it gradually becomes 
a weakened product. The old question of art for art's 
sake really must come back to self-expression as its ultimate 
court of appeal. The two objectives are very different in 
their effect upon style. The poet may feel compelled to 
express himself on a desert island, may work over his lines 
with as great assiduity as if he had an audience of a thou- 
sand; he may feel moved to recite them with no one to 
listen but the birds, just because there is within him an 
insistent urge to paint in word pictures the beauty he sees 
and to express the rhythms of life in vocal cadences. But 
the speech-maker has an audience, and while his speech if 
genuine must be his own self-expression to a degree, yet the 
reason why he stands before his listeners is to do something 
with them, to change them in some way before they leave 
his presence. This change may be in their greater intelli- 
gence because they have become better informed through 
his words ; it may be an emotional change from hate to sym- 
pathy or vice versa, from indifference to interest, or from 
selfishness to altruism. But if the speaker has caused no 
realignment of ideas and feelings his speech has failed, how- 
ever much he may have expressed himself. 

The means which one must use to work effectively upon 
other personalities are somewhat different from those which 
are sufficient in self-expression; the persuasive element is 
here dominant. How does one persuade another to let in 

241 



242 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

new ideas or to change or enlarge his feelings? Men are 
naturally conservative, entrenched already in a set of ideas, 
bound already by the feelings they carry with them; how 
can new light be let in? Usually but one thing can be done 
at a time and the instrument must be sharp to penetrate the 
defensive wall which each personality carries before him. 
Therefore there is need for a careful choice of material to 
use in a speech. Everything must be sacrificed for the sake 
of carrying the point, of accomplishing the end, of getting 
the idea across. Temptations right and left must be resisted, 
the temptation to wander in alluring by-paths, to elaborate 
a minor point which is not the real end, to amuse the audi- 
ence merely — unless indeed the change the orator has in 
mind is to make a serious audience hilarious, a depressed 
one frivolous. Judicious selection of material is one of the 
most fundamental secrets of success in speech-making, for a 
man may make very wise remarks and show great learning, 
he may be very much in earnest and show that he has ar- 
rived himself at a very high plane of conviction, and yet not 
move his audience in the least because of his injudicious 
use of good material. And he has to remember that it is 
through the ear and not the eye that he is hoping to gain 
entrance to both the brain and the emotions of the people 
before him. Thus the use of his voice — his emphasis, his 
modulations, the tones he adopts — ^has much to do with the 
effectiveness of his speech, for the voice is a wonderfully 
expressive medium of appeal. Intellectual as well as emo- 
tional conviction can be conveyed by it ; honesty of thinking, 
straightforwardness of purpose, as well as pathos or exulta- 
tion. The whip of sarcasm can be felt in the tone more 
impressively than on the written page. 

Elijah must have been a great speech-maker on Mount 
Carmel, for his cutting irony as he prodded those prophets 
of Baal has come down to us with vividness even on the 
printed page. Amos, standing up in the market-place of 
Bethel and roaring in the name of the Lord, made the people 
stop their hilarious festivities and listen. Hosea telling his 
people that when they were children God loved them, took 



ORATORY 243 

them in his arms, healed them, and drew them with bands 
of love, must have conveyed his appeal to them in his tone, 
even as he did when he stood before his own children say- 
ing, "Plead with your mother, plead!" Isaiah calling, 
"Come now, and let us reason together, saith Yahweh: 
though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as 
snow," must have put honesty and pathos and love all into 
his voice. And when he turned to the frivolous women in 
his congregation and said, "Rise up, ye women that are at 
ease and hear my voice ; ye careless daughters, give ear unto 
my speech !" we imagine they were so startled by his tone 
that they left off whispering and giggling and paid attention 
to what he had to say. To this day the charm and comfort 
of Jesus' words are felt: "Consider the lihes of the field, 
how they grow : they toil not neither do they spin, yet I say 
unto you that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like 
one of these." "Come unto me all ye that labor and are 
heavy laden." 

The fact that the orator can use his voice to convey his 
meaning causes him to choose what is known as an ora- 
torical style, which is quite different from the style chosen 
to appeal to the eye primarily; questions and exclamations, 
the emphasis which comes from repetition of words, the 
reiteration of points, the use of onomatopoeia, the contrast 
of pause and speech, the working up to a climax from quiet 
deliberation to a rush of feeling in rapidity of utterance, 
these are the legitimate ways an orator has of stirring his 
audience. Written speeches need to be read aloud to per- 
ceive their true effect. This is why much of the Bible 
should be read aloud, because originally it was spoken ad- 
dress. This is why Mr. Edmund Gosse told students who 
came to him for instruction in good style, to read the Bible 
aloud again and again ; the loftiness and grandeur, the son- 
orous effect of the words and phrases can only thus be fully 
appreciated. And this is why the Bible is very often read 
so poorly, because the reader does not know how to speak, 
to use his voice, to make his voice the quick, responsive 
instrument of both intellectual and emotional values. An- 



244 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

other reason is that a blanket of conventional religious rev- 
erence has nearly smothered the original meaning of the 
author, who was nine times out of ten a speaker on tire with 
a message which broke through all convention. A sancti- 
monious tone has nothing whatever to do with the real 
Isaiah or Amos or Micah or Jesus or Peter or Paul. Their 
tones were like sharp two-edged swords cutting away every 
unrealit}- which enveloped their hearers; they brought the 
truth home to ever>^ soul within sound of their voice. Read 
that kind of literature aloud as it ought to be read and 
much of the original effect is restored. If we could have 
reading classes in the Bible we might have more truly re- 
ligious people. We have readings in Shakespeare, in Dante, 
in Goethe, in the modem drama, in modern poetr}* ; why not 
in the Bible, where the voice was ver}- significant and the 
speaker was usually a combination of orator, poet, and 
actor ? 

The first live minutes of a speech are the most precarious 
minutes in the whole address. Before the speaker opens 
his mouth attention is anywhere except upon what he has 
to say ; of course, because he has not said it. Eyes have been 
upon him, his dress, his features, his manner. As he stands 
up attention is still upon him, not upon his speech. What 
he must do in that first five minutes is to turn attention 
away from himself to his words, to the thought he is 
presenting. This is a very different problem from getting 
the attention on the printed page, for the bodily presence of 
the author does not there intrude, and the reader has settled 
himself directly before the words to sense their meaning. 
Some vigorous and forceful method must be employed by a 
speaker to shake the attention of his audience loose from 
eye perceptions, apply it to ear perceptions and hold it there. 
The Hebrew orators often began with a "Hear, O Israel !" 
or a wider challenge than that, '"'Hear, O heavens, and give 
ear, O earth!" They often quickly turned attention from 
speaker to audience ; it was the hearer then that w^as under 
scrutiny: 'The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his 
master's crib ; but Israel doth not know, my people doth not 



ORATORY 245 

consider. Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a 
seed of evil doers, children that deal corruptly i" That was 
enough to make the most hardened audience begin to listen. 
They often began by asking questions, "Why will ye be 
still stricken, that ye revolt more and more?" Sometimes 
they started out with a "Behold !" picturing some great thing 
the Lord was going to do. "Hear ye peoples, all of you; 
hearken, O earth, and all that therein is : and let the Lord, 
Jehovah, be witness against you, the Lord from his holy 
temple. For behold! Jehovah cometh forth out of his 
place." That was enough to make them anxious to learn 
what the Lord God was going to do. Sometimes they con- 
tradicted immediately the accepted idea which was in the 
minds of the audience. Peter did this in that great speech 
of his at Pentecost: "Ye men of Judcea, and all ye that 
dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and give ear 
unto my words. For these are not drunken, as ye suppose." 
Sometimes the orator pleased his audience for a moment by 
picking out an object of their interest or pride to commend, 
or an enemy to punish. Amos most adroitly did this when 
as if with reitered hammer-strokes he roared out his "Thus 
saith Jehovah" against every nation in the whole circle of 
their acquaintance until finally he narrowed his message 
down to the final blow, and piled up all his charges in 
one thundering indictment of Israel. Paul did it in his 
famous speech on Mars Hill when he began "Ye men of 
Athens, in all things I perceive that ye are ver\' religious." 

We have been considering the beginning of a speech, the 
critical first few moments when the orator must quickly 
accomplish the feat of getting his audience in his hand. 
If he does not get his hold quickly, his speech is almost sure 
to be a failure, for the longer attention is allowed to evade 
the point of the thought the harder it is to gain it. 

But having taken hold with a good firm grip, the next 
thing of course is to go on. Professor Baldwin has outlined 
the steps most clearly, "taking hold," "going on," "bringing 
home." For the whole object of a speech is to get some- 
where. The orator feels freer when he sees he has gripped 



246 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

his audience, but he has no time to waste in self-congratu- 
lation, for if he loses his hold he cannot well regain it; 
expectation once aroused must be satisfied. The orator's 
greater freedom of spirit means simply his greater oppor- 
tunity. Some people wonder why the same speaker attempt- 
ing to make the same address is at one time given an easy 
flow of words and a freedom of spirit which is exuberant, 
and at another seems hesitant and tongue-tied, without lib- 
eration of soul in any sense, producing a labored address. 
This is the result of the subtle influence of the response of 
the audience to the spirit and attitude of the orator. To 
turn the trick and gain the spell every time or nearly every 
time is a mark of oratorical genius. Orators are born, not_ 
made, just as teachers are born. It is a matter largely of 
oratorical intuition; the man himself may never be able 
to explain how he does it. It is a matter of crowd psychol- 
ogy, not altogether understood even yet, for the far-reach- 
ing influence of personality upon personality is just begin- 
ning to be really studied. But one thing both the audience 
and the speaker know, that he must use his release from 
restraint for the purpose of progress in thought or all his 
freedom will be taken away and awful strictures will close 
down upon him. 

His method of progress depends upon the kind of effect 
desired. Does he wish to inform? Then facts logically 
and attractively presented must follow, each one leading 
to the next. Does he wish to convert? Then those facts 
must be marshalled with their faces all pointing in one 
direction, the direction which will finally win the approval 
of the listener. Does he wish to move the emotions 
primarily, to arouse pathos or sympathy? Then illus- 
trative material which can be easily perceived, pictures 
vividly drawn, are in place. But whatever he does he must 
have a plan and move on. Isaiah had a plan in his "Woes" 
and his "Therefores" in the fifth chapter, in his **Yet" and 
"Wherefore" in the ninth and tenth chapters. Amos had a 
plan as he swung around the whole geographic horizon of 
Palestine, distributing the punishments of the Lord. Elijah 



ORATORY 247 

had a plan when he mocked the prophets of Baal and prayed 
to the Lord in the presence of the people. Peter had a 
plan when he quoted Scripture again and again. Paul had 
a plan when he talked about the manner of his life from 
his youth up, which the Jews all knew, "having knowledge 
of me from the first if they be willing to testify, that after 
the straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee." 

And their plans move on without undue delay. They ar- 
rive, and then is the crucial moment of "brmging home" the 
point that has been made. Here wills are stirred, applause 
is gained, or opposition is most manifest ; and an orator is 
successful whether he gains cheers or hisses, for he has 
made the people listen and convicted them, convinced them, 
or converted them. In any case he has conquered, for he 
has changed their attitude of mind, has made a realignment 
of their ideas and feelings, even if he has only increased a 
previous emotion or enlarged their own ideas. Most of the 
speakers in the Bible won disapproval and were hissed off 
the stage. Elijah had to run down to Horeb for refuge; 
Amos was told to go back home and not dare to return to 
Bethel again ; Isaiah was scarcely listened to by a minority ; 
Jeremiah was put in the stocks and then in an old miry 
cistern, to protect the people from his words; Peter was 
charged not to speak at all and then put in prison; Paul 
was chained and packed off to Rome ; and Jesus was cruci- 
fied. Yet they all seem to have been remarkably successful, 
judging by the results they produced in the people to whom 
they spoke. The outcome may have seemed doubtful on the 
day of the speech, but the subtle power of men who had 
something to say and knew how to say it was in their 
keeping. 

EXAMPLES OF BIBLICAL SPEECHES 

Elijah on Mount Carmel, / Kings 18:20-40. 

Elijah was one of "the speaking prophets"; that is, we 
have no discourses written out at length by which to judge 
of him and his message, only snatches of what he said, a 



248 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

few words which were indelibly impressed upon the minds 
of his hearers and handed down by tradition to be woven 
into a narrative later. So forceful was his personality that 
the impression he made was an enduring one. He was the 
last representative of the independent nomadic era. Israel 
had been passing through a transition stage, adopting the 
manners and customs of an agricultural people, casting off 
many of the traditions of the purely pastoral life for the 
more comfortable fashion of famiHes with settled homes, at 
the same time looking with envious eyes at the luxuries and 
glories of city life. She had decided to elect a king like 
other nations, had allowed the king to introduce such splen- 
dor at the capital that the taxation necessary to keep up 
the court had become oppressive. Ten tribes had revolted, 
seceding en masse with their labor agitator as leader and 
finally as king. 

Thus the Northern Kingdom had begun in protest and 
kept up the protesting spirit throughout its history: when- 
ever a king did not suit or a captain of the army had ambi- 
tions, a revolution was inaugurated, the king disposed of 
and another set up. But now for a good many years one 
dynasty had held control. Omri, Ahab's father, had been 
strong enough to make all the petty countries near by 
speak of the land of Canaan as ''Omri's land"; he had 
t:hosen a most desirable site for the capital on a hill looking 
down upon a fertile valley, often spoken of by the prophets 
as **the fat valley." His son had sought to strengthen the 
respect of the Israelite among nations by marrying the 
daughter of the king of Sidon, an imperious woman of the 
world, who brought down to her new home her own house- 
hold customs and heathen gods and priests of the Baalim, 
and with it all her own despotic ideas of government. She 
dominated the situation, her husband and all. 

But she did not dominate Elijah ; he was too much for 
her to manage. His rough independence and undaunted 
courage, his loyalty to his own ideals, the ideals of their 
great leader, Moses, asserted themselves when Hebrew law 
and justice, Hebrew religion and character were all brushed 



ORATORY 249 

aside as of no moment. Was all his ancestors had fought 
for to be tamely surrendered to the autocratic arrogance of 
this foreign lady at the court? Not if Elijah could help it. 
It was time Yahweh was vindicated and the Yahweh re- 
ligion and character, according to this vigorous prophet. 
He therefore called an assembly of the people on the most 
conspicuous spot he could choose, Mount Carmel, looking 
down upon their fertile plains and up the coast toward 
Tyre and Sidon and out to sea, a wide and wonderful 
sweep, even including the Galilsean hills and Mount Hermon 
in the distance. It was time to bring the people face to 
face with what they were doing, to show them plainly where 
they were drifting, to make the issue clear, and give them 
a chance to choose with their eyes open. This was a present 
issue but it reached out far into the future. Government, 
politics, and religion were all tied up together; social wel- 
fare or social distintegration would be the result. 

Elijah's definite purpose was to do something with that 
assembly before he let them go down from the mountain 
side. To accomplish what he wished with his own people 
he must also do something with the foreign prophets of 
Baal; he must show them up as weak and inefficient, alto- 
gether unworthy to follow, false in every sense of minister- 
ing to the welfare of the nation. So there in the presence 
of that wonderful view he challenged them to show that 
their gods amounted to anything, could do anything, giving 
them the first chance. It was an all-day affair, for they 
began in the morning, and the crisis did not come until the 
evening. Undoubtedly not all that Elijah said has been 
preserved; he evidently spoke at intervals as the drama 
proceeded, for this was a most dramatic occasion, the king 
and his courtiers perhaps occupying reserved seats on the 
rocks. He was stage director and star actor combined, but 
he had not set the drama to interest the royalty; it was for 
the purpose of convincing the people of a great truth, the 
character and the power of their God, Yahweh. 

Now how did he use the power of persuasion which made 
the people different in their attitude of mind when they 



250 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

descended the mountain from when they went up? Analyze 
it and see how he **takes hold" at the start. Verse 21 gives 
the key to the situation. He sets before them at the very 
beginning their halting state of mind, "How long go ye 
limping between the two sides? If Jehovah be God follow 
him; but if Baal then follow him." Notice the silence of 
the people ; he has their attention. 

And then how does he "go on"? He makes such a fair 
proposition, openly and fearlessly, that "all the people an- 
swered and said, It is well spoken." Then follows the chal- 
lenge to the prophets of the Baalim which they could 
scarcely refuse. It is to be noted how the plan of the 
speech goes hand in hand with the plan of action. At the 
psychological moment Elijah breaks in with his ironical 
ridicule which calls attention more sharply to the way events 
are going. Toward evening comes his own special part, 
the repairing of the altar of Yahweh that has been dis- 
carded, the preparation of the sacrifice and his impressive 
prayer in the presence of the people. One would think they 
would have been tired out by this time, but there is no indi- 
cation of the flagging of interest. The deliberation and 
minute directions which he gives add to the suspense. Then 
comes the climax of his speeches, his prayer, with its sim- 
plicity, humility, conviction and purpose, which carries the 
suspense almost over into conviction. The words, the tones 
of confidence, have almost done it; the miracle was hardly 
necessary to convince the people, for they were already con- 
vinced of the almighty power of their God of all creation, 
up there on the mountain side, with that strong prophet 
standing as spokesman for such a God. Public prayer is 
one of the most difficult of arts even with the most sincere. 
These four elements found here, simplicity, humility, con- 
viction, and purpose, are the essentials in any effective pub- 
lic prayer, for this is speech with God as well as before 
people. It is the art of carrying the people with one into the 
very presence of God. If that is done, the great miracle is 
accomplished, God is made real and conviction is secured. 
This was really the climax elaborated in verses 38 and 39. 



ORATORY 251 

Verse 40 to us in this day and generation seems an anti- 
climax. 

Suggested Study 

Go over the text carefully in the light of the foregoing 
explanation. 

Amos* Maiden Speech, Amos 1, 2. 

This speech also is a gathering up of present conditions 
with an outlook toward the future. The purpose is quite 
evident, to set the Israelites straight as to their own place 
in the eyes of the Lord in connection with other nations. 
Amos believes the people have a blind, foolish, conceited 
notion of themselves as "the chosen people" to whom no 
harm can come, since Yahweh is under obligation to pro- 
tect his own. It is his purpose to enlighten them, to open 
their eyes to see that, if God is the God of justice in 
bringing punishment upon others, his principles apply to 
them quite as much even though they are his chosen people, 
even more because they have been led and taught by him 
in an especial manner. How does Amos accomplish his 
purpose? We must remember that he was an untutored 
countryman from the little village of Tekoa, a shepherd 
and dresser of sycamore trees, "no prophet nor the son of a 
prophet," a layman who had learned his lessons commun- 
ing with the God of Nature out under the stars, tending his 
fiocks by night or seeking a stray sheep out in the wilder- 
ness. Whatever art he has was due to native genius, not 
to the teaching of any school. But so perfectly does he use 
the principles of the best speech-making that we may well 
study this maiden effort to see how he did it. He succeeded 
so well that the people listened and the priests and courtiers 
were exceedingly offended and told him to go home and not 
appear again. Then "the gagged prophet began to write." 

Suggested Study 

Notice how he begins, the way he attracts the attention of 
the people. What does he mean by the Lord roaring from 



252 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

Zion? Why is it necessary for Yahweh to roar in order 
to be heard? In verse 3 he starts his plan not simply of 
catching their attention but of involving them in gradual 
assents to his proposition until they find at the end that 
they are compelled to condemn themselves. This is the 
same method which Nathan used with David in II Samuel 
12; it is the method employed by Jesus with Simon the 
Pharisee in Luke 7 : 36-50. It is a very adroit method and 
in the hands of a skillful person can be very successful, 
although it is likely to make enemies rather than friends. 
In the hands of Stephen in Acts 7 we feel that it was not 
quite so well done ; the historical recapitulation seems there 
rather long-drawn out for a good speech. But it had an 
effect upon his audience, for **when they heard these things 
they were cut to the heart and they gnashed on him with 
their teeth." 

Compare the conciseness of this speech of Amos with 
Stephen's speech. Notice the charges which Amos makes 
against each nation and the punishment meted out in each 
case. Notice how when he comes to Israel he gathers them 
all up — oppression, cruelty, disregard of brotherhood, and 
irreverence — and hurls them all at Israel, and then heaps 
up the guilt because they have been especially taught by 
Yahweh.^ He gives additional proof of sin on Israel's 
part to make his reasoning doubly effective. Notice the art 
of the reiterated hammer strokes — "Thus saith Jehovah, for 
three transgressions, yea, for four, I will not turn away 
the punishment thereof." 

Make a paraphrase of this speech, substituting the names 
of modern nations, for those of the ancient world, ending 
up with America. Does the indictment fit? Did Amos have 
an international vision ? Does the universality of his per- 
ception add at all to the effectiveness of his speech? 

The climax comes in verses 13-16. Notice the figures 
he uses and their forcefulness with an agricultural and a 
fighting people. Notice the brevity of each assertion but 

1 Some commentators think the section on Judah has been added later and 
was not a part of the speech of Amos, because he would not be likely to 
condemn his own country. Is that argument a good one? 



ORATORY 25S 

the vivid picture that is left on the mind. Notice the rapid- 
ity of his progress and the way each succeeding statement 
picks up the thought of the preceding and adds something 
as in synthetic paralleUsm. Notice the final, sudden stop 
when the limit has been reached of everything which can 
be said; this is the pronouncement of doom, introduced by 
the striking call to attention, "Behold !" We cannot imagine 
Amos' voice quavering for a moment because he felt he 
was pronouncing his own sentence in making those people 
angry with him. He was not thinking of himself ; with a 
loud voice full of emotion and conviction, steady but swift, 
he must have uttered this final prediction and then stopped. 
He was done ; his speech was made. 

Isaiah, Orator, Poet, Statesman, and Prophet, Isaiah 
1 : 2-20. 

Suggested Study 

Analyze this passage. Show how he "takes hold," how 
he "goes on," how he "brings home." As you read it does 
it seem a consistent whole as to style ? as to theme ? What 
is the theme? What is he trying to do with the people? 
Notice the figures of speech ; do they divert or concentrate 
attention and why? Is his pleading too insistent? With 
what does he join it? How does he make it efifective ? No- 
tice how he brings into close juxtaposition his indictment 
and his invitation, Yahweh's scorn of them and his yearning 
love for them. Where is the climax? Notice in verse 18 
that he rests Yahweh's invitation upon reason; it is an un- 
derstanding he is trying to get. Has Isaiah been using real 
argument or an emotional appeal to gain that? Is it their 
minds or their hearts he is after ? Notice the poetical form 
of very much of this chapter, its parallelism and imagery, 
especially verses 3 and 16-20. Arrange this as poetry. 
What kind of meter is used? Does the poetical rhythm de- 
tract from the oratorical power or aid it? Notice the very 
vivid contrasts which he delights in using. Contrast this 
with the speech of Amos as to method employed, purpose, 



254 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

and success. Why is Isaiah the mountain-top prophet? Is 
the prophetic fire an aid to oratory? Should we put it the 
other way, that the place of oratory is as a mere handmaid 
to the prophetic genius? 

Peter's Speech at Pentecost, Acts 2 : 14-36. 

Suggested Study 

Analyze this as you did the preceding speech. Ask your- 
self these questions: Is the style a characteristic Hebrew 
style? Is it as effective as the speeches in the Old Testa- 
ment? What does Peter do that is different from Isaiah 
and Amos? Is the result just as marked? What was 
Peter trying to do? Can this be taken as a model speech, 
considering Peter's audience? To make a speech for to- 
day, on this model, what purpose would you choose? From 
whom would you quote? Could people be stirred up to- 
day after this manner? Notice what happened in verses 
37 and 38. 

Paul's Mars Hill Speech, Acts 17:22-31. 

Suggested Study 

Analyze this. Compare it with Peter's speech. Compare 
it with the Old Testament speeches. Remember that Paul 
was an educated man and Peter uneducated, that although 
Paul had lived in a Greek atmosphere amidst Greek culture 
he had been educated in the best Jewish schools. Does it 
take an educated person to make a good speech ? Compare 
with Amos, who was a plain countryman, and with Isaiah, 
who belonged to the court circles at Jerusalem. Peter's 
speech was before men of his own race and former faith, 
Paul was entering ground not native to him, attempting 
to meet the Greek point of view. Did he succeed as well 
as Peter, as shown in verses 32-34? What is his line of 
argument? Is he logical? Notice the lack of imagery as 



ORATORY 255 

compared with the Old Testament orators. Is this better 
according to our point of view? Is this speech after the 
Greek or the Hebrew model? Compare with this Paul's 
speech in Acts 13: 16-41. Notice that here he is talking to 
the "men of Israel." Is his method different? 



Paul's Defense Before Agrippa, Acts 26: 1-29. 

Suggested Study 

Analyze this speech carefully, and notice that he is en- 
deavoring to explain his position as a Jew and a Christian 
before the Roman court. He is on the defensive, upholding 
his own position, quite a different situation from that at 
Mars Hill when he was the aggressive one entering an- 
other's field. Does that aid in the effectiveness or other- 
wise? Notice the result as given in verses 30-32. Is this 
kind of personal history justified very often in a speech? 
When should personal testimony be brought in and when 
left out? Where does good taste come in? Does Paul's 
frankness aid him? Does his statement in verses 6 and 7 
that he has nothing against the Roman government assist 
him? Does it clear the atmosphere and point the issue? 
How does this compare in excellence with the two speeches 
of Paul already considered ? 

Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 6, 7. 

Suggested Study 

What is known as the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 
5-7 is considered by modern scholars to be the collection of 
the fragments of many sermons. These words were prob- 
ably not delivered at one time on the mountain side of Kum 
Hattin, although that may have been the place for his first 
real address to the disciples and the multitude. These say- 
ings were grouped afterwards by some disciple who was 



256 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

eager to preserve all that could be remembered of Jesus' 
teachings. But whether this fifth chapter was all said at 
one time or not, there is a stylistic form which runs through- 
out, and it is noticeable that it is not like Peter's nor Paul's 
as revealed in those speeches we have had under considera- 
tion ; it is distinctive, and more like the Old Testament pro- 
phetic style. Analyze the whole chapter. Is there a common 
thread throughout? Is there an introduction and a climax? 
What is the theme ? Or is it made up of disjointed maxims? 
Notice the formula for the beginning of the paragraphs. 
Notice the parallelism. Is this really poetry? The subject- 
matter is certainly plain ethics. Is there any oratory here? 
Was Jesus trying to persuade his hearers or simply to enun- 
ciate truth? Notice his figures of speech. Are they eflFec- 
tive, as effective as those of the prophets? Notice his con- 
trasts. Wherein is their especial power? How did he use 
quotations from the Old Testament? Doctor Glover re- 
marks, "In all his quotations of the Old Testament that 
have reached us, there is no trace of servitude to the letter 
and no hint of allegory. He does not quote Scripture as 
his followers did. Here, too, he spoke as having author- 
ity. . . . Jesus was conscious of his own right to think 
and to see and to judge, and for him as for the modern 
temper, the final thing was not opinion, nor Scripture, nor 
authority, but reality and experience." Read again the 
Peter and Paul speeches and see if this is true. 

Was Jesus eloquent in the accepted sense? What effect 
did Jesus' sermons have on the people as recorded in 
Matthew 7 : 28 ? Notice the charm of his words and read 
Luke 4:22 where the evangelist speaks of "the words of 
grace which proceedeth out of his mouth," as if the charm 
of them had captured his audience. Was there more of 
this element in Jesus' discourses than in the speeches of 
Peter and Paul? Was Jesus more of a teacher than an 
orator or can we apply to him the term speech-maker? 
John tells us that even the officers who were sent to arrest 
him stood spell-bound by his words and gave this as an 
excuse for not taking him, "Never man spake like this man." 



ORATORY 257 



ESTIMATES OF BIBLICAL SPEECHES 

"Even in their present artistic setting we can catch the 
fire that glowed beneath the prophet's words. Here we have 
no elegantly turned essays on conduct but the out-pourings 
of a heart aflame with indignation, full of hot passion for 
God and righteousness. In this lies the secret of Amos' 
wonderful literary style. The clear-cut sinewy diction, the 
dramatic cast of the whole, the vivid imagery, and the 
winged poetry in which his appeals are borne home to the 
conscience of every reader are the direct, hot-blooded ex- 
pression of his intense feeling." 

*'There is a unique majesty in Isaiah's tones — the majesty 
of one haunted by the vision of the Divine holiness. The 
sweep of his imagination is sublime; and the diction is as 
lordly as the thought. The phrasing is carefully finished, 
and the verse moves on with a stately rhythm, strong, full, 
yet always under command. With the same royal ease the 
young prophet can wield the weapons of satire." 

A. R, Gordon. 

"What stamps the language of Jesus invariably is its 
delicate ease, implying a sensibility to every real aspect of 
the matter in hand — a sense of mastery and peace. Men 
marveled at the charm of his words, Luke using the Greek 
xdpt? to express it." T. R. Glover. 

"All His words together which have been preserved to 
us would not occupy more space in print than a half-a-dozen 
ordinary sermons; yet it is not too much to say, that they 
are the most precious literary heritage of the human 
race. . . . The form of the preaching of Jesus was essen- 
tially Jewish. The Oriental mind does not work in the 
same way as the mind of the West. Our thinking and 
speaking, when at their best, are fluent, expansive, closely 
reasoned. The Oriental mind, on the contrary, loves to 



258 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

brood long on a single point, to turn it round and round, to 
gather up all the truth about it in a focus, and pour it forth 
in a few pointed and memorable words. It is concise, epi- 
grammatic, oracular. A Western speaker's discourse is a 
systematic structure, or like a chain in which link is firmly 
knit to link; an Oriental's is like the sky at night, full of 
innumerable burning points shining forth from a dark back- 
ground. Such was the form of the teaching of Jesus. It 
consisted of numerous sayings, every one of which con- 
tained the greatest possible amount of truth in the smallest 
compass, and was expressed in language so concise and 
pointed as to stick in the memory like an arrow. . . . There 
never was speaking so simple yet so profound, so pictorial 
yet so absolutely true. . . . 

"One more quality may be mentioned, which is perhaps 
the highest quality of public speech. He addressed men 
as men, not as members of any class or possessors of any 
peculiar culture. The differences which divide men, such 
as wealth, rank, and education, are on the surface. The 
elements in which they are alike are profound. This is 
why the words of Jesus are perennial in their freshness. 
They are for all generations, and equally for all. They 
appeal to the deepest elements in human nature to-day in 
England or China as much as they did in Palestine when 
they were spoken." James Stalker, 

"The man who wishes to perfect himself in the art of 
public speech, as respects both the matter and manner of 
efifective discourse, must consult not merely those classic 
examples of Greece and Rome which are so frequently held 
up for his emulation, but also those rugged orators whose 
sentences resound through the Scriptures, and especially 
the utterances of Him who spoke as 'never man spake.' " 

G. P. Eckman. 

"A man who cannot read aloud and interpret an exalted 
passage of literature can hardly have the profoundest im- 
pression of its nature. . . . The vocal interpretation of the 



ORATORY 259 

Bible implies as a preparation not only the critical examina- 
tion but the thorough study of it as literature." 

S. S. Cmry. 



SPEECHES WITH WHICH TO COMPARE THIS BIBLICAL 
MATERIAL 

Lincoln's Gettysburg Address ; Wendell Phillips' The War 
for the Union ; Burke ; Webster ; Demosthenes ; Cicero. 
Some volume of sermons like Robertson's or Spurgeon's or 
Phillips Brooks'; are these speeches or essays? 



BOOKS TO CONSULT 

Baldwin, C. S., Composition 

Writing and Speaking, p. 420 ff. 
The English Bible as a Guide to Writing. 
Curry, S. S., Vocal and Literary Interpretation of the Bible. 

(This is very helpful from the standpoint of appreciating Biblical 
literature as largely spoken address and of learning how to read it 
aloud.) 

EcKMAN, George P., The Literary Primacy of the Bible, Chapter 
II, The Poetry and Oratory of the Bible, 
Section II. 
Glover, T. R., The Conflict of Religions in the Early Roman Em~ 

pire, Ch. IV, Jesus of Nazareth. 
Gordon, A. R., The Prophets of the Old Testament. 
Rice, J. A., The Old Testament in the Light of To-day. 
ScHENCK, F. S., The Poetry and Oratory of the Bible. 
Stalker, James, Life of Christ, pp. 67-80. 
On Amos see Commentaries. 

McFadyen, a Cry for Justice. 
DuHM, The Book of the Twelve. 
Isaiah " Commentaries. 

McFadyen, Isaiah in Modern Speech. 
Acts " Commentaries. 

Books mentioned under Essay. 
On Sermon on the Mount see Commentaries on Matthew (Interna- 
tional Critical Commentary, ^ Expositors' 
Bible, New Century, Westminster, etc.). 



Chapter IX 
ESSAY 

If we are looking for a modern essay in the Bible we 
shall not find it. An essay to us means not simply instruc- 
tion but entertainment. A good essay writer is one who 
not only uses language aptly to convey a meaning, but whose 
knowledge of life, or history, or literature, or all three, is 
such that he suggests interesting relationships, that he 
arouses satisfaction in the reader because he, too, can ap- 
preciate the suggestion. Especially is the successful modern 
essayist able by happy turns and brilliant allusions to please 
the fancy, to awaken the sense of humor, to make us feel 
that life is not all of a drab color however serious his 
theme may be. As we march along in our thought our eyes 
are on the drum-major with his gay colors, waving plumes, 
and fascinating sword-play. It entertains us, amuses and 
rests us, so that as we march we are not so conscious of the 
strenuousness of the task. Essays are read by "the intel- 
lectuals"; a magazine known to be given over very largely 
to the essay type of writing does not have a popular sale. 
It takes too much education to appreciate the allusions, to 
understand the wit, to see the point, for the uncultivated 
man to enjoy such literature. It is for the literati, a more 
or less select circle, a high caste among readers. A good 
essayist does more than simply entertain, he is a boon to the 
thinker, for he relieves the strain of life and the tenseness 
under which he labors, he stirs up his lethargic moods, and 
often widens his horizons. A good letter writer does these 
things, so that a volume of the etters of a brilliant writer 
like William James is a source of delight; they become 
classic. But the people who read them are those who are 
well enough educated to appreciate them. 

Now neither Jesus nor Paul selected the literati nor the 

Z6Q 



ESSAY 261 

broader circle of the cultivated of their day for their audi- 
ence or their readers. They did not exclude them but they 
did not deliberately choose to appeal to their intelligences 
and to use those methods which are found to play best on 
such material. Jesus' sermons were so plain that anybody 
who had the spiritual perception could understand them, 
and spiritual perception is not always synonymous with 
what we are pleased to call intellectual perception. The 
learned of his day were often the most dull in responding to 
what he was trying to reveal to them. Paul's letters to the 
churches were letters to a very mixed class of people, many 
of them quite humble. Indeed his experience with the 
learned class had been so disheartening that in one of his 
letters he exclaims, "Where is the wise? Where is the 
scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? hath not 
God made fooHsh the wisdom of the world? For seeing 
that in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom 
knew not God, it was God's good pleasure through the fool- 
ishness of the preaching to save them that believe." 

We do not go to Paul's letters for entertainment and rest. 
They are so strenuous with moral purpose that if we are 
very weary we had better not undertake them. He does 
indeed strike fire, he even scintillates, but he does not go 
out of his way to show his familiarity with the learning of 
the day. He did once at Athens in his Mars Hill address, 
but it did not seem to bear much fruit and we judge he 
was rather disgusted with that attempt by the way he spoke 
later of his resolve when he was at Corinth . "And I, breth- 
ren, when I came unto you, came not with excellency of 
speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of 
God. For I determined not to know anything among you, 
save Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you 
in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my 
speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of 
wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and power." 

It is true that he uses terms which make us quite certain 
that he was familiar with the philosophy of the mystery 
cults of his day and he is referring constantly to the ideas 



262 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

in the Jewish rehgion, but his references are not used for 
mere literary purposes, his writing is entirely subordinate 
to his great anxiety to make a vital truth grip his readers 
in a reforming manner. We cannot conceive of his caring 
one whit whether his name should come down to posterity 
as a great essayist, a notable letter-writer. In fact he was 
so careless of his style that it conforms to no good standards 
of writing, his ellipses are most numerous, his sentences are 
often incomplete, he rushes on at such a headlong pace 
that it is difficult often to keep up with him. He packs 
his sentences so full of meat that one has to stop long to 
digest it. He is neither smooth in the style of his phrases 
nor graceful in the diction he uses. In traveling with Paul 
one is bumped over new-laid tracks; he has used his pick- 
axe well to hew out the rock, he has put dynamite under 
the most resisting quarry of objections, he has spiked down 
firmly the rails over which his engine passes; but the 
pleasure of the ride comes not from ease of progress and 
release from tenseness so that the whole landscape can be 
enjoyed, but rather from the thrill of following a pioneer 
as he lays out a great highway with such energy of moral 
earnestness that one deems it worth while to be jolted and 
even bruised in order to follow his thought. 

The truth of it is that Paul was dead in earnest to get hold 
of people morally and spiritually, to do what the Old Testa- 
ment prophets wanted to do in changmg the whole attitude 
of mind and heart of his readers toward God and their part 
in life. He preached in this way to them but when he 
could not have them within reach of his voice he wrote 
letters to them, to straighten out their difficulties, to make 
them see more clearly the truth he was trying to present. 
Most of his letters were written with great heat; Paul was 
an intense man. Hearing of a situation that needed some 
authoritative voice to clear it up, he sat down straightway to 
dictate a fervent appeal to those people to behave as they 
ought, to think as they should, to listen to reason, to open 
their hearts to divine light. Probably he never for one 
moment thought he was writing literature. How is it 



ESSAY 263 

then that we have such a favorable literary criticism as the 
following concerning that wonderful essay, the epistle to 
the Galatians? "There is nothing in ancient or modern 
literature to be compared with it. . . . It is indeed a mas- 
terly sketch; the epistle to the Romans turns the sketch 
into a picture" ; ^ and this : ^Taul was producing writings 
which have ever since been among the mightiest intellectual 
forces of the world. ... If his Epistles could perish, the 
loss to literature would be the greatest possible with only 
one exception — that of the Gospels." ^ 

Paul's writings are not especially in vogue to-day. We 
are more or less out of touch with his mode of expression. 
Moreover, there has been a notion that the church has been 
affected too much by Pauline theology, that the simplicity 
of the gospel as Jesus presented it is nearer the truth. It 
is a fact that it is much easier to understand the Sermon 
on the Mount than the doctrine of Justification by Faith 
as presented in the Epistle to the Romans. It is also true 
that one has to think hard to understand Paul's lines of 
argument, especially since he uses the language of his day 
against a peculiar old-world setting which one must learn 
to appreciate in order to sense his meaning. It is a strenu- 
ous mental exercise to read Paul with understanding, but 
he is very rewarding, for we soon discover that we are in 
the presence of "the greatest thinker of his age if not of 
any age." When a little treatise like the Epistle to the 
Romans can win such praise as the following from a thor- 
ough scholar it should make us wish to read and under- 
stand: "Its extraordinary vigor and freshness of thought 
and the perfectly sublime reach of its argument stamp this 
as an inspired work of the highest order" ; ^ or again from 
another : "It vindicates once for all the central facts, truths, 
and experiences, without which Christianity cannot exist." * 
Another says concerning his later letters, "In the epistles of 

1 Sabatier, A., The Apostle Paul. 

2 Stalker, James, Life of Paul. 

3 Adeney in A Biblical Introduction. 

4 James Denney in The Expositor's Greek Testament, 



264 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

the captivity Paul's indefatigable intellect attains its final 
goal." ^ 

It is not well, then, to attempt to read Paul unless one 
brings to the task a keen mind and an earnest desire to 
understand. Then, lo ! what happens? He discovers that 
Paul was a modern psychologist in an ancient world, for 
much that the newest psychology- is now declaring in mod- 
em terminology- is Saint Paul over again; he discovers also 
that much of what the deepest and truest thinkers in the 
"New Thought" movements are attempting to say was made 
clear by Paul and has been lived out by earnest Christians 
throughout the centuries ; he finds also that the renewed 
interest in mysticism can find the link between the mediaeval 
t}^e and the present day demand for a practical application 
to modern needs in Paul, who was a practical Christian 
mystic with a social gospel. 

The type of literature which his epistles represent can be 
classed best as essay, but in approaching the study of such 
essays we must realize, as has already been pointed out, the 
difference in motive which governs essayists. It is a differ- 
ence to be perceived even in the preachers of to-day, the 
Pauline type aglow with a message which must be made 
clear and gripping no matter what happens to the language, 
or the pleasing, polished type which appeals to a cultivated, 
educationally groomed audience or reader. 

\\'hat then are the principles of a good essay which we 
would expect to find illustrated here if we are to class 
Paul's epistles under this head? 

An essay is a logical composition in which the argument 
or progress of ideas is built up, one statement depending 
upon another for its value. Not every idea involved must 
be spread out in detail ; it is usually a much more effective 
way to state just enough to ^uggest more. This adds in- 
terest and stimulus, keeping ^he mind on the adventure for 
truth. The emotional delight or intellectual satisfaction in 
such discovery is the apparent, immediate result in reading 
such a composition. If pure pleasure is the aim, the thought 

§ Sabatier, The Apostle Paul. 



ESSAY 265 

need not be very profound, for it is the way the mind is 
led on which fascinates, sometimes through cool shady 
nooks and again out in the open sunshine with a hidden 
turn in the road just ahead. But for the truth to be con- 
vincing the pathway to it must be plain, that is, logical. 
The more profound the truth and the more it differs from 
the ordinarily accepted notions the more insistent the mind 
is that the steps shall be clear. A part of the evidence may 
be the personal testimony of the author ; the strength of his 
conviction bears testimony according to the weight of his 
character and career. The artistic value of an essay comes 
from the arrangement of material and from the choice of 
words, their aptness, force, and suggestiveness. Imagery 
may play a considerable part or the delight may be simply 
in the direct appeal to reason. The author must travel 
from the known to the unknown, must speak in terms that 
are understood. 

Now in examining Paul's epistles according to these 
standards one discovers that here is a kind of writing nearer 
to the Greek style of logical composition than is elsewhere 
found in the Bible, for the Hebrew genius was not a philo- 
sophical genius in the sense of our occidental conception 
of philosophy, in which truth is demonstrated step by step 
and the relationships are all laid bare by analysis. The 
Hebrew prophetic genius was rather one of an intuition 
which jumped over many steps in the joyous leap of vision, 
and affirmed conviction through imagery and symbol rather 
than by painstaking demonstration. Paul was born and 
reared in a Greek city, one of the three great university 
centers of his day, and while he was educated as a Jew his 
great mind was trying to make clear to a Greek and Roman 
world the profound truths he himself had realized through 
vision. 

It is because of this mixture in his background and train- 
ing, this attempt to translate the experiences of one race to 
another, coupled with the great forcefulness of his char- 
acter, that we have such a unique and original style. He 
is logical and yet impatiently leaves ellipses in his argument. 



266 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

He is trying to substantiate his faith by his reason and yet 
all the while convinces his readers in large measure because 
he is so powerfully convinced himself. He is both argu- 
mentative and expository in style. He is dealing with 
abstruse, philosophical questions, at the same time, how- 
ever, making them so personal and vital that they are full 
of emotional appeal. He is so sincere that one has not a 
shadow of doubt that he would lay down his life for the 
truth he is trying to convey, yet he himself is to be seen 
constantly, that is, the truth has come through the man 
Paul with a Pauline coloring that is unmistakable. And 
while one is carried along irresistibly by the sweep and 
energy of his words one has to go back and ponder upon 
them again and again to realize the depth of their signifi- 
cance and the heights to which he has climbed. To the 
modern mind his phrases have often to be interpreted, so 
different is the terminology of to-day, but in the cosmopoli- 
tan world of the first century, familiar with the terms used 
by Greek philosophers, mystery cults, Jewish law, and the 
Roman government, he was clothing his arguments in lan- 
guage readily understood although his thought was pro- 
found and far-reaching. Thus again the Bible presents 
in this group of letters another type of literature which has 
taken its place very definitely in the great formative influ- 
ences of Christendom, worth reading, studying, pondering, 
and appreciating, for its power is far from exhausted in 
this modern day and generation. 

EXAMPLES 

Philemon, the shortest of all and the most like a letter. 

Galatians. It is important because of biographical mate- 
rial, style, doctrine, and revelation of the greatness of the 
author. 

Suggested Study 

Compare Galatians with Paul's speeches. Remember that 
g,n essay differs from a speech because it is to be read, not 



ESSAY 267 

heard, because it is primarily to explain rather than to per- 
suade, and because the topic is usually broader and cannot 
be easily condensed into a single sentence or discussed in 
a paragraph or two. Acts 26 is a good speech with which tc 
compare this letter because both are defenses. Paul was 
on the defensive before Festus and Agrippa to show why he 
was not worthy of imprisonment ; Galatians is a polemic 
attempting to show that the gospel which he preached is 
the true gospel, the gospel of freedom, of justification by 
faith and not by keeping the Jewish law. To appreciate 
the book as literature one must understand what it is about 
and the trend of the argument. 

Read carefully Acts 15:1-30 and state the issue there. 
Read Galatians 1 : 6-10 and state the reason for Paul's writ- 
ing the epistle. Read also 5:12, and 13-15; 3:1-3. Do 
they add light ? Who were the Galatians, Jews or Gentiles ? 
And why was Paul exercised over them? 4:8-11. What 
kind of a gospel had Paul preached to them ? 5 : 2-8 ; 3 : 1-3. 
Compare 2 : 16-21. How had they received Paul? 4: 12-15. 
How then had the dispute come about? Compare 5:10. 
Why was Paul so disturbed about it? 

Why does Paul take pains in 1 : 1 and 1 : 11-12 to state 
where he received his gospel and in 1 : 13-2 : 14 to give the 
particular steps in his life? Why is the latter passage one 
of the most important parts historically of all the New 
Testament documents? How did Paul meet the opposi- 
tion to him and his gospel? What was his underlying 
motive? 1:1-12; 2:16-3:1. 

Analyze the whole epistle as to content of thought. Read 
the letter over again with reference to the style, and deter- 
mine why it is considered a masterpiece. Compare it with 
the epistle to the Romans. Use Burton's Handbook of the 
Life of the ^Apostle Paul for an analysis of contents. 

Compare with other essays dealing with men, morals and 
religion, such as Macaulay's description of The Puritan in 
his Essay on Milton,^ Carlyle's Essay on Biography, Emer- 
son's Essay on Self-Reliance, or on Friendship, Thoreau's 

e This may be found in Little Masterpieces edited by Bliss Perry. 



i26S A LITERARY CxUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

Essay on Friendship, A. C. Benson, The Silent Isle, Ch. XX, 

The Sense of Sin. or The Upton Letters, and The Letters 
of JJlIIiam Ja)}ies. It would also be interesting to compare 
these Epistles of Paul with a group of ven- modern essays 
such as Christopher IMorley's Colleetion of Modern Essays; 
Story, Essay, and J'erse by C. S. Thomas and H. G. 
Paul ; * or Dr. Richard Cabot's JJliat Men Live By. 

ESTIMATES 

^'Nowhere perhaps will there be found so exact a parallel 
to the st>'le of Paul as in the letters and speeches of Oliver 
Cromwell. In the Protector's brain there lay the best and 
tniest thoughts about England and her complicated atfairs 
which existed at the time among Englishmen ; but when he 
tried to express them in speech or letter there issued from 
his mind the most extraordinary mixture of exclamations, 
questions, arginnents soon losing themselves in the sand 
of words, unwieldy parentheses, and morsels of beautiful 
pathos or subduing eloquence. Yet, as you read these 
amazing utterances, you come by degrees to feel that you 
are getting to see the very heart and soul of the Puritan 
Era, and that you would rather be beside this man than 
any other representative of the period." — James Stalker. 

''Galatians is the Christian charter of freedom. It marks 
a new epoch in the history of religion." — B. JV. Robinson. 

"All the powers of Paul's soul shine forth in these few 
pages, broad and luminous views, keen logic, biting irony. 
It is an inferior style . . . the words and fonn of his dic- 
tion bend and break under the weight of his thought. But 
from this contrast spring the most marvelous effects. . . . 
The st\-le does not sustain the thought. It is that which sus- 
tains the style, giving to it its force, its life and beauty. . . . 
Every phrase is obliged, so to speak, to bear a double and 
triple burden. In a single proposition, or in a couple of 

7 Atlantic Monthly Press. 



ESSAY 269 

words strung together, Paul has lodged a whole world of 
ideas." — Sabatier. 

"There is probably not a single Christian of any impor- 
tance in later times from whom we have received such 
absolutely honest materials to enable us to reaHze what his 
inner life was like." — Gustav Deissmann. 

"From a doctrinal point of view the letter lacks the full- 
ness and balance of the letter to the Romans, yet its very 
heat and impetuousness give it a value of its own. There 
are doctrinal passages in this letter which, on the points 
of which they treat, have no equal in any other letter of the 
New Testament." — E. D. Burton. 

"Antiquity has nothing to show more notable in its kind 
or more precious than this letter of Paul." — G. G. Findlay 
in Expositor's Bible. 



BOOKS TO CONSULT 

Baldwin, C. S., Composition. 

The English Bible as a Guide to Writing. 
Burton, Ernest DeWitt, Handbook of the Life of the Apostle Paul. 
Deissmann, Gustav, Saint Paul. 
Ely, Mary, Paul, the Conqueror. 
The Expositors' Greek Testament. 
McGiFFERT, A. C, The Apostolic Age, p. 221. 
Robinson, Benjamin W., The Life of Paul. 
Sabatier, A., The Apostle Paul. 
Stalker, James, The Life of Saint Paul. 
Vincent, Marvin R., Word Studies in the New Testament. 
Wood and Grant, The Bible as Literature. 



BIBLICAL REFERENCES 

AND 

INDEX 



BIBLICAL REFERENCES 

Genesis .S^/se Page 

5:2, 9 28 

9:8-15 103 

14:14 57 

14-16 32 

15:16 59 

17, 18 32 

18:16 32 

Ruth 
Ruth 94, 97, 98 

Samuel 
I & II Samuel ... 113, 114 

I Samuel 

2:1 28 

18 : 7 38, 39 

II Samuel 

1:19-26 169 

3:33, 34 169 

12 252 

18:33 28 

Kings 
I & II Kings .... 113, 114 

I Kings 

18 242, 247 

20:35-43 192 

II Kings 
22:1-23:30 .... 117 

Chronicles 
I & II Chronicles. 113, 114 

150, 154 Esther 

Esther 94, 98 

Job 

Job 128, 179, 217, 

218 ff. 

36:24-37:22 179 

38:4-18 181 

3 130, 193 

273 



Chapter 
and Verse 

1 


Page 
62 


1:1-2:3 . 
2:23 .... 
2:46-3:24 
4 


65 

68 

67 

64, 84 


4:23-24 . 
4 &5 .... 
4:1-15 .. 
6:9-9:17 
8:22 .... 
9:25-27 . 
10 ....... 


35 

83, 84 

85 

76 

77 

148 

84 


21 : 22-34 
25:23 ... 
27:27-29 
49 


36 

147 

148 

149 


49:22ff. . 


150 


15:1-3 .. 
15:16 ... 


Exodus 

38 

130 


Numbers 

21:14, 15 27 

21 : 17, 18 36 

21:17 145 

23:7-10, 18-24 ... 152 

24:7 151 

24:3-9, 15-19 .... 153 


Deuteronomy 
32 l-'^5 


33 


149, 1 


10:12-13 
15:19 .. 


Joshua 

38, 39 

36 


1:15 ... 
5 


Judges 

36 

43 



274 A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 

Psalms Proverbs 

Chapter Chapter 

and Verse Page and Verse Page 

5 146 Proverbs 59,107,217, 

7 145 234, 235, 238, 

8:1, 9 28, 48 239 

8:4 129 6:6-11 235 

13 133, 145 8 235 

16 145 9:1-12 235 

18 145, 177 13:1 130 

19:1-6 179 15:17 130 

23 124,133,145, 24:30-34 235 

176 26:3-12, 13-16 ... 235 

24 134, 145, 158 27:2-6 49 

25 187 27:23-27 52 

29 133, 177 30 60 

32 145 ^ , . 

41 : 13 146, 162 Ecclesiastes 

42 130, 134, 175 Ecclesiastes 140, 217, 228, 

45 145, 165 230 

51 124, 183 12 141 

S6 145 ^ . ^ , 

60 : 1-4 145 o ong of Solomon 

72 162, 166 Song of Solomon. . 48, 54, 107, 

73:18, 19 146 132, 139, 195 

77:16-19 177 7:llff 48 

81 48 ^ . ^ 

84 48 Isaiah 

89:52 146,162 Isaiah 106,109,203, 

90 184, 188 243, 244, 246, 

91 186 1 124, 253 

93 177 2:4 30 

100 146 5 48, 134, 145 

101 167 6 203 

103 182 9:8-10:4 134 

104-107 162 14 172 

104 163 16:10 48 

106:48 146,162 17:12-14 30 

110 145 17 141 

111 146 21 126, 213 

111-117 162 28:20 29 

113 162 28:23-29 51 

114 162 40:12ff 181 

120-134 158 47 215 

121 162 55 216 

125 162 63 215 

135-136 162 65 : 8 48 

136 28, 134 

137 174 Jeremiah 

146-150 162 Jeremiah 101 

147 162 7 & 9 ....171 

150.... 146,162 25:30 48 



BIBLICAL REFERENCES 



275 



Lamentations 

Chapter 
and Verse Page 

Lamentations 171 

2:1, 10 132 

4:5, 8 132 

Esekiel 

Ezekiel 193, 209 

4 193 

37:1-14 205 

Daniel 

Daniel 202 

2 58 

Hosea 
Hosea 43, 124, 125, 

166, 175, 184, 

242 
2:21-23 175 

Amos 

Amos 166, 242, 246 

247 

1 & 2 251 

3:12 131 

3:15 165 

Ohadiah 
Obadiah 174 

Jonah 
Jonah 31, 106, 125 

Micah 

Micah 143 

1:10 32, 58 

6:1-8 212 

Nahum 

Nahum 3 142 

2:3-7 30 

ZecHariah 
Zechariah 5:5-11.. 32 

Malachi 
Malachi 219 



Matthem 

Chapter 
and Verse Page 

5:1-12 235 

6:9-15 163 

7:28 256 

11 216, 243 

13 105 

18:21-35 104 

22:2-14 105 

Luke 

4:22 256 

7:36-50 252 

11:1-4 163 

15 105 

John 

2 106 

10:1-18 105 

15:1-8 105 

Acts 

Acts 113, 115 

2:14-36 254 

7 252 

13:16-41 255 

15:1-35 118 

17:22-31 254 

26:1-29 255 

27 116 

Romans 
Romans 263 

/ Corinthians 

12:12-30 103 

13 189 

Galatians 
Galatians 263, 266 

Philemon 
Philemon 266 

7 Peter 
2:25 102 

Revelation 

21:1-22:5 206 

21:9-27 208 



INDEX 



Abel, 84, 85 

Abner, 169 

Abraham, 94, 95, 211 

Absalom, 28, 194 

Accent, 130, 137 

Achan, 24 

Adah, 35 

Adams, Henry, Education of, 
118 

^schylus, 221, 226, 227 

;Esop, 103 

"After Song," 191 

Agriculture, 50, 51, 68, 84 

Agrippa, 255 

Ahab, 165, 248 

Albright, Miss, 92, 93 

Allegory, 89, 99, 106 

AlHteration, 143, 144 

Amos, 165, 166, 242, 244, 246, 
2_47,_ 251, 252 

Animism, 95 

Antiphonal, 39, 134 

Apocalyptic, 202 

Apocrypha, 202, 217 

Apostles, 211 

Appledore, Pictures from, 143 

Aquinas, Thomas, 196 

Arabian Nights, ZZ, 91, 92, 97; 
Peninsula, 85 

Arabic fables, 104, 105; poem, 
77, 178; well-song, 38 

Arabs, 36-38 

Aram, 85 

Aramea, 85 

Ark, 77 

Art, 15, 16, 180, 220, 250; for 
art's sake, 23, 241 ; of story- 
telling, 88 

Artificer, 35 

Artisan, 84 

Arts, 35 

Asaph, 145 

Asshur, 85 

Assonance, 85, 144 



277 



Assyrians, 83 
Athanasius, 185 
Athens, 245, 261 

B 

Baal, 242, 248, 250 

Babel, 64 

Babylon, 172, 207, 213; Baby- 
lonian, 57, 68, 75, 76, 135, 174, 
180, 221 

Balaam, 150 

Balance of thought, 24 (see 
also parallelism) 

Baldwin, Prof., 92, 93, 245 

Ballad, ZZ, 43, 94 

Battle of Harlow, 47; Salamis, 
112 

Baruch, 202 

Bay Psalm Book, 194 

Beatitudes, 164, 236, 237 

Bedouin, 35, 95, 234 

Bee-keeping and Bees, 53, 59 

Be'er, 36 

BeereHm, 36 

Beeroth, 36 

Beersheba, Z6 

Benson, A. C, 268 

Bernard, Saint, 124 

Bethel, 247 

Bethlehem, 54 

Bible-book of religion, 16, 19; 
beauty of, 15; English Bible, 
17; study of, 15-18 

Bidpai-fables, 104 

Biography, 89, 115 

Blake, William, 202 

Boadicea, 43 

Book of Dead, 75 

British Columbia, 83 

Brooks, Phillips, 259 

Brown, T. E., 126 

Brown, W. A., 118 

Browning, Robert, 47, 127 

Burma, 81 

Byron, 142 



278 



A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 



C 

Cabot, Richard, 268 

Cain, 84, 85 

Canaan, 43 

Canon, 195 

Captivity, 174, 206, 217, 220 

Caravan, 159 

Carman, Bliss, 74 

Carmel, Mount, 242, 247 

Carlyle, Thomas, 226, 267 

Ceremonial, 64 

Chesterton, Gilbert, 234 

Christianity, 206, 212, 263, 266 

Chorus, 39, 134, 164, 220 

Chronicler, 114, 203 

Church, 196 

Cicero, 259 

City of God, 208 

Clans, 43 

Cochin China, 81 

Communal expression, 24, 39, 
124, 168, 206, 220 

Communion Psalm, 182 

Confession, The Great, 183 

Contrast, 24, 55, 56, 76, 143, 180, 
187 

Conundrum, 56-61 

Cook Islands, 82 

Corinth, 261 

Cosmological, 62, 6Z, 16, 83 

Creation, 65, 110, 181; in com- 
parative literature, 69 ff . 

Crothers, Dr.,_ 106 

Curtin, Jeremiah, 21 

Cushites, 85 

Cynic, Gentle, 229, 230 

Cyprus, 85 

D 

Dance, 20, 25. 35, 38, 40, 48 

Daniel, 58, 202 

Dante, 227, 244 

David, 31, 39, 94, 98, 113, 127, 

168, 169, 170, 176, 183, 194, 

203 
Debate, 219 
Deborah's Song, 28, 30, ZZ, 40, 

43, 143 
Deity (name of), 34 
"Demands Joyous," 58 
Demosthenes, 259 



Descriptive History, 112, 116 

Deucalion, 80 

Deuteronomy, 155 

Devotional Bible Study, 15 

Dialogue, 61, 89 

Dickens, Charles, 237 

Didactic, ZZ, 39, 54., 112, 124, 155 

Diogenes, 202 

Dirge, 28, 168, 174, 183, 211 

Dispersion, 217 

Diviner, 151 

Doom, 172, 207 

Doxology, 146, 163 

Drama, 125, 192 ff., 218, 221, 

244 
Dramatic, 43, 68. 126, 201 
Drinkwater, John, 122, 144 
Duhm, Bernhard, 131 
Dvaks. 74 
Dye, Charity, 91 



Ebal, 159 

Ecclesiastes, 140, 217, 228 

Ecclesiasticus, 217 

Edomites, 174 

Egyptian, 38, 58, 69, 75, 85, 203 

Elam, 84 

Elijah, 31, 113, 242, 246-249 

Elisha, 113 

Elizabethans, 132 

Elohim, 66, 11, 166 

Emerson, 267 

Enigma, 56-59 

Enoch, 202 

Ephraim, 149 

Epic, ZZ, 43, 62, 78, 221 

Epicureanism, 236 

Esau, 148 

Essay, 89, 112, 259, 260 

Esther, 94, 98 

Ethics, 16, 86, 95 

Ethiopia, 85 

Ethnological, 6Z, 83; ethnology, 

84, 85 
Etymological, 64 
Evening Hymn, 180 
Evil, problem of, 75 
Exmoor Harvest Song, 52 
Exodus, 38 
Ezeyel, 193, 202, 205, 206. 209 



INDEX 



279 



Faber, F. W., 107 

Fable, 31, 23, 99 

Fact, 62-64 

Fairy-tales, 33 

Family, 84 

Farmer's life, 53, 84, 161 ; poem, 
51 ; proverb, 43 

Feasts, 64, 128 

Figures of speech, 30, 40, 43, 64, 
65 

Flodden Field, 47 

Flood story, 76; from compara- 
tive literature, 78, 111 

Folk-lore, 19, 88, 113, 126, 221; 
poetry, 18 

Fools, 234, 235 

France, Anatole, 233 

"Free Verse," 137 

Friendship, 187 



Galatians, 263, 266 

Garden of Eden, 68, 97 

Genealogies, 64 

Genetic History, 112, 118 

Geology, 76 

Georgics, 52, 53 

Gerezim, 159 

Gibbs, Philip, 117 

Gibeon, 40 

Gideon, 32, 97 

Gilder, R. W., 191 

Gilgamesh epic, 78 

Gittith, 48, 146 

Gladstone, William R, 185 

Glover, T. E., 256 

Goethe, 226, 244 

Goliath, 94, 97 

Golden Apples, 76 

Good Samaritan, 107 

Gosse, Edmund, 243 

Greece, 85 

Greek, 33, 56, 76, 80, 189, 218, 

221, 228, 235, 236, 254, 265, 

266 



H 
"Hack and Hew, 
Hallel, 162. 163 



74 



Hallelujah, 162, 164 

Happiness, 235 

Hatshepsut, 203 

Hebrew genius, 24, 33, 265; 

early expression, 32 
Hebrew words, 139, 157, 171 
Hedonism, 236 
Henley, William K, 226 
Heracles, 76 
Hermes, 80 
Hermon, Mount, 249 
Herodotus, 117 
Hindoo fable, 103 
History, 61, 76, 219; Bible as, 

17; early, 33, 53, 56, 89, 109; 

tests, 119 
Homer, 43 
Horeb, 247 
Hosea, 124, 125, 166, 175, 184, 

242 
Houghton, Louise Seymour, 27 
Horace, 227 
Humor, 31, 32, 56 
Husbandry, 50 (see agriculture 

and farmer) 
Hymns, 124, 158, 162, 165, 168, 

179, 180 



Idyll, 67 

Imagery, 65, 125, 138 (see 

Figures) 
Imagination, 27, 30, 40, 62, 63, 

65, 88, 93 
India, 81 

Indians, 21 ; myths, 32 
Inferno, 237 
Inspiration, 16, 67 
Intuition, 65, 122, 137, 265 
Iphigenia, 96 
Irony, 31, 32, 250 
Isaac, 94, 148 
Isaiah, 29, 106, 109, 166, 192, 

202, 203, 243, 244, 246, 247, 

253 
Ishmael, 63 
Israel, 114, 248, 252 
Israelites, 38, 40, 43, 49, 52, 53, 

63, 66, 84, 125, 148, 152, 157, 

192, 203 



280 



A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 



Jabal, 35 

Jackals, 57 

Jacob, 49, 149; well. 159 

James, William, 260 

Jamnia, 196 

Jasher, 41, 169 

Jastrow, Morris, 179 

Javan, 85 

Jehovah, derivation, 34 

Jehu, 165 

Jeremiah, 101, 171, 247 

Jerusalem, 134, 158, 171, 197, 

203, 254; New, 206; Restored, 

209 
Jesus, 101, 189. 216, 235, 236. 243, 

244, 255, 256, 260, 261 
Jew, 217, 219, 255, 265 ; Wailing 

Place, 171 
Job, 128, 179, 217, 218 ff. 
John, 206 

Jonah, 31, 106. 125 
Joseph, 58, 96, 148 
Joshua, 24 
Josiah, 117, 166 
Jotham, 31, 42, 103 
Jubal, 35 
Judah, 114 

K 

"Keeper of Light," 97 
Kenites, 85 
Kilmer, Joyce, 128 
Kinah, 131, 169. 171, 175 
King, H. C, 237 
Kingsley, Charles, 47 
Kipling, Rudyard, 98 
Kittim, 85 

Koheleth, 228, 230, 236 
Korah, sons of, 145 
Koran, 20 
Krummacher, 105 
Kumis, 75 
Kurn Hattin, 255 



Lamech, 35 

Lamentations, 132, 171 

Laws of God, 51; moral law, 

180 
Lebanon, 177 



Legend, 22, 62-65, 76, 88 

Letters, 260, 262 

Levites, 115 

Literature, Bible as, 15-17, 110; 

English, 17; History of, 17, 

18 
Liturgical Psalms, 28, 135, 185 
Lincoln, Abraham, 259 
Lord's Prayer, 163, 189 
Lorna Doone, 52 
Love, 189, 195, 219 
Lowell, J. R., 30, 143 
Lowth, Bishop, 129 
Lud. 85 
Luther, 219 
Lydia, 85 
Lyric, Z3, 124, 175, 179, 183, 193, 

194, 195 

M 
Macaulay, 267 
Malachi, 219 
Manasseh, 149 
Manuscripts, 17 
Markham, Edwin, 179 
Marriage, 68 (see wedding) 
Martial, 132 

Masefield, John, 128, 144 
Maskil, 145 
Masterpieces, 16-18 
Matheson, George, 196 
Meditation, 184 
Mediterranean, 64, 84, 177 
Melanesian, legend, 7Z 
Memory, 27, 28 
Mesopotamia, 64, 84 
Metaphor, 40, 161 
Meter, 28, 127, 130, 148, 151, 158, 

168 
Methuselah, 84 
Micah (prophet), 143, 212, 244; 

(priest), 32 
Midian, 151 
Miktam, 145 

Milton, John, 86, 112, 144, 227 
Miracle, 75, 250 
Miriam's Song, 34, 38 
Mizmor, 145 
Moab, 151, 152 
Moffatt, Dr., 190 
Moral, 75, 95, 180 



INDEX 



281 



Morley, Christopher, 268 

Morning, 179 

Moses, 38, 85, 149, 155, 184, 248 

Mother Goose, 29 

Musical terms, 144; instruments, 

146. 
Musicians, 35, 84 
Mysticism, 95, 121, 264 
Myths, 33, 62, 101, 111 

N 

Nahum, 142 

Naomi, 98 

Nathan, 31 

Nation, 123, 125, 147, 148, 157, 

168, 171, 249 
Nation's Birth Song, 147 
Nature, 122, 126, 128, 129, 163, 

175, 179, 180, 181, 251 
Nebuchadrezzar, 58 
Negro Folk Song, 21, 135 
New England, 53 
"New Thought," 264 
"New Voices," 140 
Newbolt, William, 123, 136 
Nietzche, 228 
Nineveh, 30 
Noah, 77, 148 
Nomads, 35-37, 40 
Norse Creation Story, 72 
North America, 76 
Nursery rhymes, 60 (see rhymes 

and Mother Goose) 

o 

Obadiah, 174 

Occasions for singing, 146 

Ode, 33, 155 

CEdipus, 56 

Olives, Mount of, 159 

Omar Khayyam, 132, 229 

Omri, 248 

Onomatopoeia, 30, 47, 143 

Ophir, 85 

Oral transmission, 25, 88 

Oracles, 150, 151, 152, 213 

Oratory, 241 

Orthodox, 218, 221, 229 



Pacific Islands, 83 



Palestine, 48, 85 

Parable, 49, 88, 99, 103, 104 

Paradise, 68 

Paradise Lost, 86 

Parallelism, 67, 129, 135, 136, 

253 
Parley, Peter, 27 
Parnassus, 80 
Passover, 64 

Pastoral life, 52, 84 (see shep- 
herd) 
Patriarchs, 18, 95 
Patriotism, 129, 147, 154, 158, 

176 
Paul, 103, 115, 189, 244, 245, 

247, 254, 255, 256, 260, 261, 262, 

264, 265, 266 
Paul Revere's Ride, 112 
Pentecost, 254 
Perry, Bliss, 133, 135, 138 
Persia, _ 50, 85 
Pessimists, 234 

Peter, 244, 245, 247, 254, 256 
Pharaoh, 58 
Philemon, 266 
Philistines, 57, 170 
Philippine Islands, Creation 

Story, 74 
Phillips, Wendell, 259 
Philosophers, 217 
Philosophy, 63, 112, 265, 266 
Phthia, 80 
Pilgrim Ford, 159 
Pilgrim Psalter, 158 
"Place of Peace," 179 
Plutarch, 56 
Poetry, 33, 62, 75, 110, 120; 

form, 20, 22, 28, 33, 60; 

structure, 129; marks of, 137 
Polynesia, 82 
Pope, 132 

Praise, 163, 179, 180, 189 
Prayers, 154, 163, 184, 250 
Priests, 203 

Priestly writer, 65, 115 
Primitive man, 21, 23, 56, 62, 

63, 65 
Processioni.1, 158 
Prometheus, 80, 221 
Prophecy, 151, 206, 212 
Prophets, 95, 96, 115, 121, 126, 

129, 151, 171, 206, 247, 253 



282 



A LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE 



Prose, 20, 34, 35, 38, 40, 62, 65, 
n, 120, 137 

Prosopopoeia, 47 

Proverbs. 29, ZZ, 42, 43, 59, 60, 
99, 107, 217, 234, 235, 238, 239 

Psalm, derivation, 145; liturgi- 
cal, 28, 162 

Psalter, Pilgrim, 158 

Pseudo-Matthew, 75 

Psychology, 68 

Puns, 32, 56, 57, 58 

Puritan, 31, 268 

Pyrrha, 80 

R 

Rabbis, 196, 197 

Races, 16; Hebrew, 17, 18 

Racial genius, 16 

Rebekah, 148 

Recitative, 27 

Red Sea, 38 

Refrain, 28, 39, 180 

Religion, 19, 63, 68, 75, Id, 95, 

96, 122, 124, 129, 158, 163, 176, 

249, 262 
Renan, 139; note, 233 
Repetition, 28 

Revelation, 16; Book of, 206 ff. 
Revenge, 35 

Revised Version (see versions) 
Rhyme, 28, 29, 38, 43, 50, 61, 

127, 131 
Rhythm, 21, 23, 25, 29, 34, Zl , 

39, 40, 42, 43, 47, 50, 61, 62, 

6J, 77, 120, 130, 136, 137, 144, 

158, 164, 169 
Riddles, 29, ZZ, 56-61 
Rip Van Winkle, 97 
Romans, Epistle, 263 
Royalty, 165 
Ruskin, John, 136 
Ruth, Book of, 94, 97, 98 



Sacrifice, 96 

Samson, 29, 32, 56, 59, 143 

Samuel, 113 

Sanskrit, 81 

Sarcasm, 31, 32 

Satan, 218 



Satire, 31 

Saul, 113, 170 

Scandinavia, 83 

Schopenhauer, 228 

Schreiner, Olive, 107 

Scottish, 43, 182 

Seer, 151 (see John) 

Semitic, 135 

Semple, Ellen C, 119 

Sennacherib, 142 

Septuagint, 133 

Sermon on Mount, 255 

Serpent, 67, 68, 71, 7S, 76 

Sex, 68 

Shakespeare, 227, 244 

Shamash, 58 

Shaw, Bernard, 233 

Shem, 84 

Sheep, shepherd, 84, 176 

Sheik, 36 

Sidon, 248 

Simon, 168 

Sin, 68, 86, 204, 218 ff. 

Singing, 19, 33-35 

Sisera, 30 

Sluggards, 234, 235 

Social values, 123, 212 

Song, 18, 24, 29, 33-43, 50, 51, 

64, 145, 148, 154, 155, 181, 186, 

211 
Song of Solomon, 48, 54, 107, 

132, 139, 195 
Solomon's Pleasure Gardens, 54 
Snowden, J. H., 118 
Spain, 85 
Speech, 89, 241 ff. 
Sphinx, 56, 59 
Spinoza, 228 
Spiritual realities, 16 
"Spoken English," 25 
Spring, Z6 
Stanley, Dean, 189 
Stephen, 252 
Stoicism, 236 
Storms, 177 
Story and story telling, 20, 62, 

88 ff.. Ill 
Strophe, 131, 176 
Style, 65-68, 75-77, 117, 229, 

235, 244 ff., 252, 253, 256, 262, 

264, 265 
Succoth, 32 



INDEX 



28S 



Suffering, 84, 218; Suffering 

Servant, 109 
Sun and Sun-god, 58, 180 
"Sun-god and the Serpent," 71 
Superstitious, 68, 75, Id, 96 
Symbolism, 63, 76, 140, 151, 202, 

209 
Synagogue, 164 
Syria, 198 



Tabernacles, Feast of, 128 
Tablets, Babylonian, 74 
Tarshish, 85 
Tekoa, 251 
Temptation, 67, 68 
Tennyson, 98, 170 
Thackeray, 98 
Theocracy, 203 
Theological, dd, 109, 229 
Thomas, C. S. and Paul, H. G., 

268 
Thoreau, 187, 267 
Thucydides, 117 
Thunderstorm Psalm, 18, 11, 

129, 177 
Title of Psalms. 145 
Tolstoi, 103 
Tradition, 64, Id, 88 
Translations, 17, 28, 34, 43, 50, 

190 
Tree of Life, 75 
Tribe, 35 
Truth, 62-64 
Tubal-Cain, 35 
Tunes, 145 
Twain, Mark, 226 
Tyre, 165, 249 



V 



Ur, 211 
Utopia, 237 
Uzziah, 203 



Valley of Dry Bones. 205 

Van Dyke, Henry, 97, 125 

Vergil, 52, 53, 237 

Versions, 20, 34, 43, 50, Id, 222; 
King James, 34, 121, 129, 181, 
182, 187, 188; Revised, 34, 
148, 177, 187, 201 

Vineyard Song, 18, 48. 49, 215 

Visions, 201-212 

Voices, for singing, 146 



W 
Webster, Daniel, 259 
Wedding (songs), 54, 58, 165 

(see marriage and Song of 

Solomon) 
Well, Song of, Zd, Z7, 126; Arab 

Song of, 38 
Whitlock, Brand, 117 
Wilde, Oscar, 107 
Wilkinson, Mrs. Marguerite, 

140 
Wisdom, 235 
Wisdom Literature, 54-61, 102, 

217, 230, 235 ff. 
Wisdom of Solomon, 217 
"Woman and the Barrel," 32 
World's Code, 237 
Worship, 162-164, 187, 219 



Yahweh, dd, 77', meaning of, 
34 



Zeus, 80 

Zillah, 35 

Zion, 161, 215, 252 

Zodiac. 210 





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